Apparatus system and method to extract minerals and metals from water

ABSTRACT

A new apparatus, system and method to purified produced water and removed valuable metals and minerals is described. The apparatus comprises a device for flowing produced water wellbore from a wellbore to the produced water purification apparatus; at least one device to remove heavy metals from the produced water; at least one brine removal device to remove brine from the produced water. The method comprises steps to use the apparatus and the system comprises a control panel that operates the at least one device for removing heavy metals and at least one sensor in a coordinated manner.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This present application is a non-provisional patent application that isa national phase application claiming priority to Patent CooperationTreaty (PCT) Application No. PCT/US2019/048216 (InternationalPublication Number WO 2020/041803), entitled “AN APPARATUS SYSTEM ANDMETHOD TO EXTRACT MINERALS AND METALS FROM WATER” filed on Aug. 26, 2019that claims priority to the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/370,739,entitled “AN APPARATUS SYSTEM AND METHOD TO EXTRACT MINERALS AND METALSFROM WATER” filed on Mar. 29, 2019 (Issued U.S. Pat. No. 11,034,605),and the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/112,537, entitled “ANAPPARATUS SYSTEM AND METHOD TO SEPARATE BRINE FROM WATER” filed on Aug.24, 2018 (Issued U.S. Pat. No. 10,864,482). Both U.S. application Ser.Nos. 16/370,739 and 16/112,537 are hereby incorporated in their entiretyby reference. | U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No.16/370,739 claims priority to the U.S. patent provisional applicationhaving the Ser. No. 62/650,242, filed Mar. 29, 2018 which is entitled“AN APPARATUS SYSTEM AND METHOD TO EXTRACT MINERALS AND METALS FROMWATER.” The U.S. patent provisional application Ser. No. 62/650,242 ishereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to devices and methods forextracting components from a fluid. More particularly, the embodimentsrelate to devices and methods for using biological and/or physicalprocesses such as, heat or pressure or chemical processes to processfluids, extract components and obtain favorable chemical compositions ofthe components.

BACKGROUND

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects ofart, which may be associated with embodiments of the present invention.This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader withinformation to facilitate a better understanding of embodiments of thepresent invention. Accordingly, these statements are to be read in thislight, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.

Water, energy and industrial activity have a symbiotic relationship.Energy is needed to move water to people, and for businesses andindustry to operate. Conversely, water, is necessary to produce energyand run business and industry.

Increased population growth and industrialization is causing certaingeographic regions to exhaust renewable fresh water. To solve thisproblem methods and devices have been created to purify contaminatedwater to create fresh water for industrial, agricultural and humanconsumption. Currently, the most effective process utilizes reverseosmosis and membrane technology to remove contaminates and createspurified fresh water. The amount of equipment and energy required makesthis technology is costly to build and to operate. The idea of usingsteam for thermal distillation to produce purified water is not novel.There are devices that can use directed energy to remove purified steamfrom contaminated fluids such as, water. Others have proposed combiningsteam generation for power and other uses to purify water. The problemhas been the additional costs for additional equipment and the loss ofefficiency has made these processes uneconomical. Accordingly, there isa need to maximize the efficiency of existing technology to efficientlyand economically remove contaminates from contaminated water.

In the past, desalination plants have been proposed to resolve the freshwater resource problem. Reverse osmosis (“RO”) plants have beendelivering desalinated water for decades to regions with limited waterresources. However, the high cost to build and operate the RO plantshistorically made the plants uneconomical for most regions. Accordingly,the major issue of RO technology is that it costs too much. The ROprocess requires significant energy to force salt water against polymermembranes that have pores small enough to let fresh water through whileholding salt ions back.

Steam from water or vapor from fluids is used for many purposesincluding heating, cooling and to power many devices including steamturbines to produce electricity. One problem with using unpurified wateris that impurities in the fluids, usually salt in water, causescorrosion, scaling and other issues. This corrosion often requires theuse of very expensive material that is highly corrosion resistant. Inaddition, excessive corrosion requires costly replacement of parts andadditional labor charges increasing the cost of utilizing steam.Contaminates in fluids will raise the boiling temperature of the fluidsrequiring more energy to produce steam, decreasing the efficiency ofsteam production and increasing costs. One solution is to use freshwater with low amounts of contaminates. The problem with fresh water isthat fresh water is needed for agricultural and human consumption. Incertain locations, there is not enough fresh water to satisfy human andagricultural consumption which can make the use of fresh water forindustry problematic and expensive. The problem with removingcontaminates from fluids is the equipment and processes required arevery expensive because of the extensive amount of equipment needed andthe amount of energy required to utilize the equipment. Accordingly,there is a need for apparatuses and methods to efficiently and costeffectively remove contaminates from liquids during industrialoperations such as, steam generation.

Another issue with processing water with impurities is scaling. Scalingis when contaminates such as salt precipitates out of a fluid andattaches to equipment. Too much scaling can cause a plant or equipmentto fail. Scaling becomes more prevalent as temperature increases andcontaminates increase. For this reason, many plants that require waterdo not use alternatives to fresh water such as salt water as anysignificant increase in heat or salinity causes scaling issues.

Oil and gas reservoirs are subterranean formations containing crude oiland/or natural gas. Typically, oil and gas reservoirs have a naturalwater layer, called formation water, that, being denser, typically liesunder the hydrocarbons. Oil reservoirs typically contain large volumesof water, while gas reservoirs tend to produce only small quantities. Tomaximize hydrocarbons recovery, additional water is usually injectedinto the reservoirs to help force the oil/gas to the surface. Bothformation and injected water are eventually produced along with thehydrocarbons and, as an oil field becomes depleted, the amount ofproduced water usually increases as the reservoir fills with injectedwater. Such water is called “produced water” throughout the industry.

Produced water is typically removed from the oil, but still containsundesirable components such as paraffins, oils, other hydrocarbons andorganic substances, muds, salts, solids and the like. Oil may be presentin different amounts, depending on the type of oilfield and otherfactors, from a few hundred parts per million (ppm) to large amountssuch as up to 35% by volume. The contaminated produced water must bedisposed of in some manner. It can be treated and released as surfacewater or it can be injected back into the oil or gas reservoir.Sequestering produced water by reinjecting it into the oil/gas reservoiror another wellbore is typically done. However, the processing requiredto render produced water fit for reinjection is costly and hasenvironmental issues such as aquifer contamination and increased seismicactivity.

After extraction from reservoirs hydrocarbons are also washed with waterto remove or reduce the high content of salts. The amount of such water,called “washing water” may exceed the amount of produced water. Washingwater contains hydrocarbons and must be disposed of in some manner ortreated.

Technologies have been disclosed and/or tried to various extents totreat waste water in extraction installations of oil and gas reserves.Such technologies include membrane filtration technology,electrocoagulation with membrane technology, extraction withsupercritical fluids and treatment with ozone. For example, U.S. PatentApplication No. 2007/0056913 disclose ceramic membranes for ultra- andnano-filtration for oilfield produced water.

While present technologies can produce an acceptably clean product on alaboratory size scale, they have generally proved to be uneconomicalwhen scaled up for use in commercial installations. For example, U.S.Patent Application No. 2007/0095761 discloses a method for preparingacidic solutions of activated silica and polyvalent metal salt for watertreatment. This application discloses using activated silica inconnection with sewage treatment plants located in urban areas to removedisinfection byproducts (DBP) and DBP precursors.

Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,439 discloses using activated silica toremove metals from industrial waste streams, such as, heavy metals andtoxic salts. This application is silent on removing oil or otherhydrocarbons from water.

Drilling fluids are used extensively in oil and gas drilling industry tomaintain density, lubrication and cooling of the wellbore drillingequipment. Drilling fluids can be water based, oil based or compositebased. Water based drilling fluids are sometimes referred to as drillingmud is typically produced by adding salts to brine or fresh water. Thetype and amount of salts chosen is based on the desired density andproperties. The creation of drilling fluids requires the use of freshwater and brine water resources which can stress ecosystems or the waterresources or regions. Accordingly, there is a need to recycle theproduced water to reduce the amount of freshwater and brine water thatis taken form the local ecosystems to support drilling operations. Thetype and amount of salts chosen is based on the desired density andproperties.

Due to the increased costs and transportation difficulties regardingwater disposal and of the increasing awareness about environmentalissues, there is a need for a water treatment process that makesproduced water and/or washing water acceptable for surface discharge,industrial, agricultural and municipal use. Preferably, such an improvedprocess will efficiently clean the waste waters constantly andcontinuously during the oil/gas extraction operations. Most preferably,the process should be able to recycle, as much as possible, the wastestreams to avoid or eliminate the use of disposal wells or otherwastefully or environmentally dangerous disposal methods. A need alsoexists for such a process which handles produced and flowback water at acost which is more economical than the existing technologies presentlyin use in oil and gas fields. This invention satisfies that need.

Produced water from Shale Gas operations can be reused for fracking ofsubsequent wells, with any excess being shared with other operators thatfind themselves in a shortfall or injected into nearby deep disposalwells. While these methods are costly to the operator, there is anopportunity as the water contains many metals and minerals ofsignificant potential value if extracted. There is a need to develop newtechnology to extract valuable metals and minerals. In addition, theability to extract the valuable metals and minerals at the wellsite willimprove the economics by eliminating the transportation costs. Theinvention embodiments disclosed herein can satisfy these needs.

The rare-earth elements (REEs), lithium and other heavy metals areeconomically important due to the growing demand and importance in cleantechnology, military and high-tech industries. The growing demand forREEs creates increased environmental exposure and water pollution fromnumerous REEs commercial products. Accordingly, the recovery of REEs isa significant issue. There are diverse techniques available to removemetal ions from aqueous solutions, but no one has proposed a completeprocess to process both the wastewater and the REEs and other valuablemetals in a comprehensive system. There is also a need to process thewater at remote mining sites and oil and gas well sites to decrease thecost of transporting the water. Various embodiments disclosed hereinaddress these needs.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed. In this embodiment, theapparatus comprises at least one device to purify the water wherein apurified component is separated from a saline component; wherein thedevice can remove selective components from the water. Additionalapparatus embodiments include controlling the purification to obtain adesired density of the saline component.

In a second embodiment, a method is disclosed. In this embodiment, themethod to purify contaminated fluid comprises connecting a device totreat the produced water from a wellbore; removing the solidcontaminates from the produced water; separating a purified componentfrom a denser saline component; removing at least one specific componentfrom the contaminates. Additional method embodiments involve controllingthe purification to obtain a desired density of the saline component.

In a third embodiment, a system is disclosed. In this embodiment, thesystem comprises an apparatus comprising at least one device to purifythe water wherein a purified component is separated from a salinecomponent; wherein the device can remove selective components from thewater. In an additional embodiment the system can achieve a specificdensity of the saline component and comprises at least one controldevice that controls the removal of the saline component for theapparatus in a coordinated manner with at least one sensor.

In one embodiment innovative equipment, systems, and processes reducethe costs of disposing produced water at oil and gas field productionsites by purifying the produced water using available gas at the wellsite and recycling the components. The reclaimed water can be reused atthe wellsite, as needed, in oil operations or become available fornearby industrial and agricultural reuse. This process has been enabledby modified heat exchangers that internally, thermally distills andseparates pure water from contaminated water using the existing energyin the system. This product can purify significant amounts of producedwater from oil and gas operations using available gas and waste energyat the well site. The streamlined pre-treatment and thermal distillationsystem can be coupled with metal extraction technology to separate andremove valuable metals such as, lithium, magnesium, calcium, strontium,heavy metals and rare earth metals.

The foregoing summary is not intended to summarize each potentialembodiment or every aspect of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other advantages of the present technique may becomeapparent upon reading the following detailed description and uponreference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic of a reverse osmosis purification unitadjacent to a wellbore;

FIG. 1 a is a flow chart of the process steps in one embodiment;

FIG. 1 b is a flow chart of the method steps in one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of a side elevational view of an energyrecovery device embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of a screen filter pipe device;

FIG. 4 is an example illustration of a spin filter embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section of a side elevational view of multiple coarsespin filters can be housed in a container;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section of a side elevational view of a containerizedmedia filter embodiment;

FIG. 7 is an example illustration of a microfiltration tube membraneembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a cross-section of a side elevational view of a containerizedmicrofiltration tube membrane embodiment;

FIG. 9 is an example illustration of a tube reverse osmosis embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a cross-section of a side elevational view of a containerizedreverse osmosis membrane embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a side view illustrating a crane loading membrane filteringequipment into a housing;

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of robotic or automated containerizedequipment being inserted into a housing;

FIG. 13 is a prior art heat exchanger that is typically used to convertwater into steam;

FIG. 14 illustrates an embodiment of this invention wherein baffles andopenings are used to create multiple flow paths to separate contaminatedfluid from purified vapor;

FIG. 15 illustrates an embodiment of this invention wherein slantedbaffles and openings are used to create multiple flow paths to separatecontaminated fluid from purified vapor;

FIG. 16 illustrates an embodiment of this invention wherein spiral orhalf tubes that can be placed inside a heat exchanger having a conicalshape condensation plate and the condensation plate has aligned holes inthe middle and side to allow contaminated fluids and purified vapor tohave separate flow paths respectively;

FIG. 17 is a cross section showing possible flow paths for the conicalshape condensation plate in FIG. 16 ;

FIG. 18 is a cross section showing perforated tubing with screens tocreate a plurality of flow paths;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing a method embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 20 is a schematic of a cooling tower embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 21 is a schematic of a wellbore equipment embodiment of thisinvention;

FIGS. 22 a-c illustrate gas burner and heat exchanger embodiments;

FIG. 23 illustrate an alternative flow path embodiment using baffles andholes;

FIG. 24 is a schematic illustration of an oil field embodiment;

FIG. 25 is a discharge embodiment showing inlets designed to create avortex for mixing and hydroelectric power from the discharge fluid flow;

FIG. 26 is a schematic showing a SCADA control system embodiment for awater purification system;

FIG. 27 is a schematic showing a mobile water purification unit attachedto a generator;

FIG. 28 is a schematic of a ship desalination embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 29 is an example process flow diagram showing a pre-treatment stepto remove metals and minerals and a brine removal step

FIG. 30 is an example process flow diagram like FIG. 29 showingadditional metals and mineral extraction steps.

DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, this invention quickly and efficiently uses energysuch as, temperature, pressure from the produced water at a wellhead topurify water using water purification devices, including but notlimited, thermal distillation, electrical coagulation, vapor extraction,membrane filters through processes such as, nano-filtration and/orreverse osmosis to remove impurities from the produced water.Alternatively, embodiments of this invention can be used to purifycontaminated water from agricultural, industrial, municipal andindividual waste water usage.

As shown in FIG. 1 , an oil field embodiment typically has several unitsor steps. These units include the wellhead 1 with at least one valve 2and preferably a plurality of valves for injection or removing fluidfrom the wellbore 3. The wellhead also typically contains a casing head8 blowout preventer (BOP) 9 flow tree 10 and flow line 11 forhydrocarbons. In some embodiments, an energy recovery device 4 connectedto the wellbore for capturing the pressure of the produced fluids andtransferring the pressure to one or more reverse osmosis membranesand/or pumps for transporting water and pumps for running additionalwater treatment processes. Filtration devices 5 such as Nano filtrationor electrical coagulation or flocculation for removing suspended solidsand other contaminates from the produced waters can also be connected tothe energy recovery device 4 and the reverse osmosis device.Alternatively, or in addition, three phase separators can be used aspart of the filtration devices 5. Connected to both the energy recoverydevice 4 and the filtration device 5 is the reverse osmosis device 6 orthermal device for removing dissolved contaminates from the water oralternatively different processes for selectively removing metals andminerals as discussed below. If necessary, a post treatment device 7finishes the water with chemicals, or preferably without chemicals toobtain the desired water properties. As discussed below, the devices inFIG. 1 can be in series, parallel or connected in multiple combinationsor orders to achieve favorable operational conditions. All possibleequipment combinations and order of flow paths are intended to be withinthe scope of the invention. Additional thermal distillation devices orreverse osmosis can be attached to the wellhead and/or pressure recoverydevice or heat recovery device to take advantage of the heat from theproduced water or waste heat from other processes at the wellsite, suchas flare gas.

FIG. 1 a shows the steps in one embodiment. First, a pressure recoverydevice is connected to a wellhead wherein the pressure recovery deviceis connected to a membrane filter 1 a. Second, produced water is flowedthrough the pressure recovery device to capture pressure energy 2 a.Third, the pressure recovered from the pressure recovery device is usedto flow water through a membrane 3 a. Fourth, the filtered andcontaminated water that was flowed through the membrane is removed 4 a.Alternatively, the water could be flowed, pumped or sprayed throughadditional process steps to selectively remove metals and minerals

FIG. 1 b shows the steps of another embodiment. First, produced water isflowed to at least one water purification device 1 b. Second, solidparticulates are removed 2 b. Third, heavy metals are removed 3 b.Fourth, a saline component is separated from the water 4 b. The salinecomponent and purified water are removed as separate streams 5 b. Thesteps in FIG. 1 a and FIG. 1 b can be combined or performedindependently depending on the needs of the operator. Alternatively, thewater could be flowed, pumped or sprayed through additional processsteps to selectively remove metals and minerals, as discussed below.

While embodiments described herein are predominately connected to oiland gas production devices, it is envisioned that the pressure recapturesystem and saline component removal can be connected to any industrialprocess with excess water pressure to obtain water purification. Anyexcess pressure can be combined with excess heat to achieve synergisticbenefits as described below. All disclosed uses are intended to beincluded in this invention.

Energy Recovery Devices

Energy recovery devices (“ERD”) can recapture energy expended by pumpingor otherwise pressurizing water. This technology recovers energy fromthe pumping of water though industrial and municipal water distributionsystems.

ERD for water reverse osmosis (“WRO”) are often defined as devices thatrecover energy from the reject effluent such as, brine stream in seawater or brackish desalination facilities, and reintroduce this energyinto the desalination process for reducing the overall energyconsumption of the facility. The three main classes of ERD in use todayin most of the WRO facilities worldwide are often referred to as ClassI, Class II or Class III devices.

Class I include the Francis Turbine and Pelton Wheel, designed as shaftassisting mechanisms, and feeding the recovered energy directly to theHigh-Pressure Pump (HPP). The Pelton Wheel device has a maximum reportedefficiency of 80-85% and has been used for decades in use in WRO plants.

Class II are referred to as hydraulic turbochargers (HTCs) orturbochargers further pressurize the seawater feed after it has passedthe high-pressure pump using rejected stream pressure. Turbochargers areused in some SWRO plants where low energy costs are not encouragingplant operators to install highly efficient energy recovery devices.With reported efficiencies of 80%, these devices compete with Class IIIdevices in areas where energy costs are low due to their low overallcosts including capital, operational, and maintenance costs.

Class III are devices that use the principle of positive displacementoften referred to as isobaric pressure exchangers. The two mainsubclasses of devices in the third class are direct pressure feed andreciprocating pistons. Direct pressure feed uses the direct contactbetween brine and feed water to transfer energy. Reciprocating pistonstransfers the brine pressure into mechanical action, which drivespistons to pressurize the feed.

Most recently, dual work exchangers have achieved efficiency rates of upto 97 percent. As shown in FIG. 2 , the work exchanger system 20 directsthe high-pressure brine 12 exiting the RO membranes 13 to work exchangervessels 14 filled with contaminated water to pressurize the influentproduced water or feed water 15. A small recirculating pump on the workexchanger vessel 16 boosts the pressure of the water exiting the workexchanger vessel to equal the main feed pump 17 pressure and joins theflow to the RO membranes 13. The effluent brine leaves through tubingfor discharge or recycling and the purified water leaves through tubingfor post treatment or to the end users, such as consumers. In oneembodiment, the system and processes are designed to achieve a favorablebrine density prior to discharge or recycling of the brine. For example,Flowserve markets a product called CALDER™ Dual Work Exchanger EnergyRecovery (DWEER™) which have been successfully used in many plants andcan be adapted to work in the embodiments described herein.

ERD can be engineered to be inside the reverse osmosis skids orcontainers or can be designed to be in a stand-alone container where thefeed water and pressurized water is piped into the containers. In oneembodiment, the pressure exchanger tube would be inside a shippingcontainer and each pressure exchanger would be connected to both thefeed water line connected to the wellhead, the reject brine effluentline and the inlets and outlets of the reverse osmosis membranes.Furthermore, ERD can be engineered into the inlets and outlets on thewellhead systems to take advantage of head and pressure. The ERD can beused to run pump or replace pumps or be sued to directly power processsteps, as needed. In one embodiment, ERD could be used in the dischargesystem, if conditions are favorable for pressure recapture.

Filtration Device and System

The filtration devices and/or system can utilize known filters and pumpsin a specific orientation to achieve preferred operation conditions. Forexample, U.S. Patent application No. 2011/0120928 disclosed the benefitof combining known different types of pre-filtering devices beforerunning water through the reverse osmosis membranes. U.S. Patent No.2011/0120928 is hereby incorporated by reference.

In one embodiment, the filters should operate in at least two segments.The first segment can comprise the rough or coarse filters which shouldfilter solid contaminates at least 2 millimeters in length and up to 10millimeters in length depending on the amounts of suspended solids,amounts of aquatic life (if any), water temperature and systemoperational conditions and other requirements. In the example shown inFIG. 3 , the rough filter 30 is a wire mesh 31 connected to an exteriorheavy metal frame 32 supported by structural supports which can beattached through bolts 33 (or other connection devices) to the outletsof a wellhead or other wellbore device or to existing pipes. The wiremesh filters can also be created through interwoven wires like achain-link fence or with screening created through punched plates. Forexample, type 304 stainless steel or other material that is scale andcorrosion resistant, could be punched or woven into the desired sizedscreen filters. The course filters can be connected to several wiremeshes and backflow devices to clean the trapped sediments. Additionalfiner wire mesh filters can be added, as needed. In on embodiment, theproduced water is flowed under pressure through several filters beforeentering the energy recapture device. In an alternative embodiment, theproduced water is first flowed through the energy recapture device tocapture most of the pressure and then flowed through the filtersdescribed herein. The energy captured by the energy recapture device canbe used to flow the produced water through the filters as well asreverse osmosis membranes. The produced water is then flowed to theenergy recovery device or second stage filtration.

A second set of filters or filtering stage can be utilized to filter thesediments in the water to a size of at least 40 microns and up to 200microns. In one embodiment, high throughput spin or centrifugal filterswould be used to efficiently filter large volumes of water, thesefilters comprise: an inlet, a plurality of disk filters or helicalscrolls that spin, and at least two outlets. One outlet is for thefiltered water and a second outlet or drain is for the backwashed waterthat would remove the filtered sediments and/or marine life by feedingthe discharge or backwash directly into the container, body of water, orinto a discharge system, as described later.

FIG. 4 is an example of a spin filter 41 and it is understood that othersuitable filters can be used or modified to be used in this example withthe benefit of the disclosure herein. In the example shown in FIG. 4 ,feed or contaminated water 42 from either the rough filter or wellheadis flowed through the inlet 43 into a hollow stack disk device 44 insidethe filter walls 45. The spinning causes compression of themicron-grooved disks, forcing water to flow between the grooves andtraps of the stacked disks. Filtered water that exits the disks isflowed through outlet 46 wherein sediment particles fall (arrow 47) dueto density differences and can be flowed or backwashed through outlet48. Alternatively, centrifugal filters can be used as is known in theart. These filters work by flowing water into the filter where discs orbowls cause the water to swirl around the inside of a cylinder. Thecentrifugal force causes the sand particles to move towards the outeredge of the bottle, which slide slowly down the side of a reservoirbelow and the water flow up through a separate outlet above. Thisdischarge from the centrifugal filter or spin filter is then sent to forfinal filtration and/or treatment. In one embodiment flow paths can bemanually or automatically reversed for backwashing and other cleaningand maintenance operations. On or more spin filters can be used in thewater purification process or metal and mineral removal process, asneeded to obtain favorable results.

For example, filters made by Amiad Water Systems LTD from Israel wouldbe employed. In particular, the SpinKlin® Super Galaxy High Flow filterwould clean up to 100 microns. These filters are made of polymericmaterial such as, polypropylene and are self-cleaning with automatedbackwashing and are designed for water treatment plans. A plurality ofthese filters can be controlled by a control system described furtherbelow, to create an efficient system to handle the inlet water to meetthe demands of the desalination plant. These pumps could be placed in aparallel formation or can be stacked as preferred to be oriented eitherhorizontal, vertically or combinations thereof. The purpose of thestacking and orientation to get the most favorable operationalconditions including but not limited to amount of purification, pumpingrequirements, efficiency, reducing piping and electrical lines, gradientof tubing, amount of pressure recapture, power requirements, andcombination thereof.

FIG. 5 is a side view of parallel stacked spin filters 51 or centrifugesin a row inside a shipping container 52 designed to house the spinfilters 51. As shown in FIG. 5 , the spin filter 51 are alignedvertically in a horizontal row inside the container. Depending upon thesize of the spin filters and container, multiple rows, levels, or floorsin the skid can used with a plurality of aligned spin filters 51 on eachfloor or alternatively, in each skid (not shown). The spin filters areshown with inlet line 52 and solid waste discharge outlets 53 lines. Anadditional purified outlet line 54 flows the purified water to the nextstage. Typically, the spin filters run in parallel wherein water is runthrough only one set of filters. However, valves can create redundancyby allowing water flow that has exited a poor or broken filter to berecycled though at least one additional spin filter. An outside crane oroverhead crane can install, move or remove containers comprising aplurality of filters, or individual filters, as necessary. Additionalpower connections 58 can provide power to the spin motors oralternatively, internal batteries (not shown) can be used forredundancy. Specifically, quick connects and disconnects would be usedto allow for emergency disconnects or quick connections and disconnectsfor the inlets, outlets and power connections for quick removal and/ormaintenance. Alternatively, the spin filters can be mounted on skidsstacked vertically, horizontally or combinations thereof, to obtain afavorable configuration by making it easier to stack and remove sectionsfor maintenance considering spacing constraints.

Redundancy would be built into the system by having valve loops orrecirculation tubing. In the event a filter fails, the system couldautomatically recirculate the water flow not properly filtered back to aworking filtration section using the valve loops and/or recirculationtubing. The redundancy can be built into the containers, outside thecontainer or combinations thereof. The parallel arrangement along withthe vertical and horizontal stacking allows the filtering system to beefficient by minimizing the length of piping and/or spacing it takes toget the water to, metal or minerals removal equipment, waterpurification equipment including distillation or reverse osmosisequipment or other equipment in the process or plant. This reduction ofpiping also reduces the pumping load requirements resulting in lessenergy costs.

In another embodiment, gravity filters can be used to pre-filtersediments as a second stage filter or an additional stage. Gravityfilters are commonly used in applications where liquid-solids separationis required in a variety of different applications for pre-treat and/orfinish water treatment. Gravity filters can incorporate various types ofmedia such as sand, anthracite, greensand and carbon (includingactivated carbon) to meet each plant's water treatment needs. Inaddition, gravity filters allow for easy inspection during operation andtypically have a smaller profile. Quartz sand, silica sand, nut shells,anthracite, limestone, coal, garnet, magnetite, and other materials maybe used as filtration media in gravity filters. Silica sand andanthracite are the most commonly used types. Typically, an underdrainsystem removes the filtered water and a backwash system periodicallyclean the gravity filter. The three main classifications of gravityfilters are single-media, dual-media and multi-media gravity filters.Persons skilled in the art will recognize the benefits of using certaintypes or combinations of filtration media to obtain favorable propertieswith the benefit of the disclosures herein.

In one embodiment, a gravity filter is containerized to allow for quickinsertion and removal of the gravity filters. FIG. 6 illustrates agravity filter that has been modified for a container. As shown in FIG.6 , the gravity filter 65 has been engineered to fit inside a standardshipping container. Water is pumped though piping 66 passed valve 67into inlet 68 on the outside wall of the sipping container 60. Waterenters the media filter onto wash trough 69 and then flows onto andthrough the filter media 62 which filters sediments in the water. In theexample shown in FIG. 6 only one media is used but two or more media canbe used, as needed to obtain favorable operating conditions. After thewater through gravity percolates through the media 62, the water thenflows through gravel bed 61 into the underdrain pipes 72 leading tooutlet 63 on the wall of container 60 through valve 64 into gravityfiltered outlet line 70 to the next step of purification. In thisexample, gravity is used to filter so no pumps are needed. However,pumps could be used to help the process or backwash as needed. Optionalelectrical connects 71 can be used to power sensors, pumps or otherequipment as needed. Persons skilled in the art with the benefit of thedisclosures herein would recognize other type of media filters such as,pressure filters can be similarly designed to fit into a container, asillustrated in FIG. 6 . In addition, multiple media filters run inseries or parallel can be engineered to fit in a container oralternatively, the equipment or plant can run each container in seriesor parallel to obtain favorable operating conditions.

In one embodiment, a final pre-filtration system called themicro-filtration or ultra-filtration unit. This filtration can utilize avariety of membrane filtration in which forces including pressure orconcentration gradients facilitate a separation through a semi-permeablemembrane. Micro-filtration is a type of physical filtration processwhere a contaminated fluid is passed through a special pore-sizedmembrane to separate microorganisms and suspended particles from processliquid using pressure or gravity.

Ultrafiltration is a pressure-driven purification process for removal ofsolids, turbidity and removal of proteins, endotoxins and pathogens suchas giardia, cryptosporidium, viruses and E. coli. Typically,ultrafiltration membranes have pore sizes ranging from 0.1 μm to 0.001μm. Ultra-filtration filters are typically used in waste water treatmentand pharmaceutical applications. This step should substantially removeall particles not dissolved in the water leaving only essentiallysoluble impurities. For example, Evoqua Water Technologies, LLC fromWarrendale, Pa. manufactures several suitable micro-filtration andultra-filtration devices. MEMCOR CP II™ filters are suitable for thisapplication, as this provides module housing for a plurality ofmembranes requiring less footprint and with removable canisters forquick on-site repairs. This modular design can be easily containerized.

The pre-treatment or filtering steps described above can also be used inthe water and mineral extraction process as needed to selectively dropout or remove desired metals and minerals, as described below.Alternatively, the water could be flowed, pumped or sprayed throughadditional process steps to selectively remove metals and minerals. Theability to remotely and efficiently process both the water and metalsand minerals in one location provides an unexpected benefit or prior arttechniques.

FIG. 7 is an imploded prospective view of a tubular membrane filterdevice 73 which can handle micro-filtration or ultrafiltration. Thetubular membranes 74 in housing 75 can operate in tangential, orcross-flow, design where process fluid is pumped (shown by arrow 76)into filter device 73 and along the membrane surface in a sweepingaction. Water that is purified by flowing through the membranes andthrough outlet 77 (arrow 79) whereas retained water with suspendedsolids and microorganism flow through the outlets of the membranes asshown by arrow 78. Ultrafiltration is preferred in most embodimentsbecause reducing solid contaminate concentrations entering the reversemembranes will improve efficiency and/or time periods between repairsand maintenance.

FIG. 8 illustrates a plurality of tubular membrane filters 81 engineeredto fit inside a container 82. As shown in FIG. 8 water is flowed throughinlet 83 on the container wall through the tubular membrane filters 81.Natural pressure or gravity or pumps (not shown) can be used to flow orforce the water through the membrane filter inlet 83 through at leastone membrane 81. Water flows through the membranes 81 into the upperportion 85 of the tubes ?? and then the filtered water flows throughoutlet 86 to the next stage such as, reverse osmosis units. Wastewateris discharged through outlet 87 and can be discharged directly into abody of water or flowed through the discharge unit, as described below.In addition, air inlet 88 is engineered into the wall of the container88 to provide air, or compressed air as needed to flow the water throughthe membranes. Electrical connections 89 provide electrical power ifneeded to run the equipment inside including any sensors. As describedabove all the connections can be designed for quick connects anddisconnects to a plant system.

In one embodiment, the filters are placed adjacent to run in paralleltrain. In this embodiment, the different filter containers could be inseparate sections or combined in an aligned train to make the processmore efficient. For example, media and/or spin filters can be adjacentor aligned with the membrane filters. A common supply line can then beengineered to run alongside the filters or the container units. Theexample shown in FIG. 8 , has the membranes oriented horizontally.However, the membranes can be position horizontally, vertically, slantedor in any combination thereof. The alignment would be chosen to maximizecontainer space and minimize the amount of piping and pumps needed toflow the water. In addition, the pre-treatment and metal and mineral andremoval processes can be run in series or parallel. For example, waterwith high concentrations of metals and minerals can after processing besent to one or more pre-treatment processes to selectively remove one ormore of the metals and minerals.

In one embodiment, each stage comprises a plurality of module filters ineach container, wherein any container malfunctions or needs maintenancecan be quickly removed by cranes or other equipment of the offshorestructure. This embodiment enables any underperforming filter to bequickly removed through disconnects adjacent to the containers anddisconnects adjacent to the containers. Alternatively, valves andrecirculation tubing can reroute any water from a filter that has filedor needs maintenance. The valves can be controlled manually or beautomated to allow real-time control, using a control system describedbelow.

Electrical Coagulation

Electrocoagulation is performed by applying an electric current acrossmetal plates that are submerged in water. Heavy metals, organics, andinorganics are primarily held in water by electrical charges. Byapplying another electrical charge to the contaminated water, thecharges that hold the particles together are destabilized and separatefrom the clean water. The particles then coagulate to form a mass, whichcan be easily removed. Electrocoagulation can be used as a pretreatmentfor processes such as clarification, reverse osmosis (RO), andultrafiltration, or as a polish treatment at the end of traditionaltreatment processes. The technology typically eliminates the need forchemical or biological additives or demulsifiers. Without chemicals,there is also no need for chemical mixing tanks. Electrocoagulation canalso be sued to selectively drop out one or more metals and minerals asneeded, during the process.

Other Pretreatment Options

The primary objective of pretreatment is to make the feed water to thethermal distillation unit or RO compatible with the equipment.Pretreatment is required to increase the efficiency and life expectancyof the membrane elements by minimizing fouling, scaling and degradationof the membrane. Fouling refers to entrapment of particulates, such assilt, clay, suspended solids, biological slime, algae, silica, ironflocs and other matter on the sea water. Most of the pretreatmentoptions involves filtration. However, other pretreatment options includeflocculator, bioflocculator, lamella settler, dissolved air flotationsystems, polymer preparation system, coagulant dosing station, watersterilization and other systems known to persons skilled in the art.Accordingly, persons skilled in the art could add additionalpretreatment options to the pre-filtering steps described above usingthe disclosures and embodiments described herein to obtain favorableoperating properties. The pretreatment options chosen would be based onthe flowing variables including properties of the produced water orseawater, desired finished properties of the water, operating parameterand conditions of the desalination plant and combinations thereof.

Reverse Osmosis System

In one embodiment, the final stage of the water purification processrequires reverse osmosis filtration. Reverse osmosis (RO) is a waterpurification technology that uses a semi-permeable membrane to removelarger particles from drinking water. In reverse osmosis, an appliedpressure is used to overcome osmotic pressure, a colligative property,that is driven by chemical potential, a thermodynamic parameter. Reverseosmosis can remove many types of molecules and ions from solutions,including bacteria, and is commonly used in both industrial processesand the production of potable water. The result is that the solute isretained on the pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solventcan pass to the other side. Typically, to be “selective,” the membraneallows large molecules or ions through the pores (holes) while allowingsmaller components of the solution (such as the solvent) to pass freely.

Usually, the solvent naturally moves from an area of low soluteconcentration (high water potential), through a membrane, to an area ofhigh solute concentration (low water potential). A pure solvent can bemoveably driven to reduce the free energy of the system throughequalizing solute concentrations on each side of a membrane, generatingosmotic pressure. Applying an external pressure reverses, the naturalflow of the pure solvent, thus, the term reverse osmosis. The RO processis like other membrane technology applications. However, key differencesare found between reverse osmosis and filtration. The predominantremoval mechanism in membrane filtration is straining, or sizeexclusion, whereas, the RO process can theoretically achieve perfectefficiency regardless of parameters such as the solution's pressure andconcentration. RO also involves diffusion, making the process dependenton pressure, flow rate, and other conditions.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a typical reverse osmosis membrane used inthe art. The membranes are inside an outer pressure tube 90 typicallymade of fiberglass to contain the membrane elements. Inside the pressuretube 90 is an impermeable sheet 91 that encases the membrane 92 on bothsided of the membrane 92. The membrane 92 is made of a salt rejectingmembrane. Contaminated water or salt water is flowed (as shown by arrows93) through the membranes which allows water molecules to pass throughbut not the salt water. The contaminates or salt rejecting membrane 92material, in the Example shown in FIG. 9 can be a plasticized tricotwith grooves in the tricot to create a spiral flow of desalinated waterthrough a purified water exit tube 94 in the center. The reverse osmosismembrane shown in FIG. 9 is only an example reverse osmosis membrane,and other reverse osmosis membranes can be used with the benefit of thedisclosure herein. Preferably, module sections or skids of reverseosmosis tubes would be employed to allow easy removal and maintenance ofthe RO filters.

FIG. 10 illustrates a cross sectional side view of a containerized ROfilter system 100 comprising plurality of tubular reverse osmosismembrane filters 101 engineered to fit inside a container 102. As shownin FIG. 10 , water is flowed through inlet 103 on the container 102 wallthrough a plurality of piping 104 to the tubular membrane filters 101.Pumps (not shown) can be used to flow or force the water through themembrane filter inlet 103 to travel through at least one RO membranefilter 101. Water flows through the membranes 101 and then the filteredwater flows through outlet 105 to the next stage such as, post treatmentof for transport as desalinated water. Wastewater is discharged throughoutlet 106 and can be discharged directly into a body of water, disposalwell or flowed through the discharge unit, as described below. One ormore electrical connections 107 provide electrical power if needed torun the equipment inside including any sensors. As described above allthe connections can be designed for quick connects and disconnects to aplant system.

IDE Technologies in Israel manufactures and sells a containerizedreverse osmosis system which could be modified to work with theautomated insertion and removal by engineering the connections anddisconnects to match the plant frame. IDE Progreen—ModelSW-RO-M—provides RO modules engineered to fit inside a container. TheseRO modular units, or similar units, could be engineered to have thequick connections and disconnects to work in the embodiments describeherein.

In one embodiment, container housing pump would be directly adjacent tothe container housing the reverse osmosis tubes which would be directlyadjacent to the pressure recapture systems. This aligned arrangementallows for containers to be quickly removed and replaced when necessaryand to allow valves to bypass one container or sections of alignedcontainers to avoid equipment that is not working or working poorly.Internal lifts, robotic arms or overhead cranes would insert and removethe containers as necessary.

Typically, the pumps would be variable speed motors to allow multiplespeeds based on operational conditions for efficiency. The pumpcontainers and reverse osmosis containers can be manufactured to be astandard 12×12×24 ISO skids. This will allow for over 50 16-inch reverseosmosis tubes and enough pumps and electrical controls to operate 2reverse membrane containers. Alternatively, smaller skids of 8×8×20could be used to allow for easier transportation.

In one embodiment, the skids can be steel connected by fasteners, boltedsteel, or galvanized steel to take additional stress. This would allowmultiple stacking of skids to maximize space and limit piping to theskids. The small overhead crane can be a monorail crane for manual orelectric chain hoist options to service pumps. In one embodiment, thecrane, pumps, electrical motor starters, or combinations thereof areoperated by the control panel. This automation allows complete controlwithout humans in the skids or around skids. The skids can be fenced offor located in a hermetically sealed building if sterile conditions arerequired. Robots can perform maintenance to limit the need for humans towork on the equipment

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of robotic or automated containerizedequipment be inserted into a container or housing. As shown in FIG. 11 ,an equipment block of reverse osmosis equipment is being loaded into ahousing unit designed to store and operate the equipment in thecontainer. The equipment 111 in this example is being loaded into thehousing 110 with a crane 112. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 12 ,equipment in a container 120 can be inserted into a container housing121 by a robotic arm 122 that can be controlled by a remote-controlsystem (not shown).

The robotic arm 122 can latch on to the shipping container 120 throughone or more handles 123 that can be designed or welded onto thecontainer 120. Alternatively, container 120 can be loaded with hoists orcranes with equipment that latches onto the frame of the containers orother means known to persons skilled in the art. A plurality of maleconnectors 124 can be designed to match, latch or connect ontocorresponding female connectors 125. These connections can be controlledby mechanical hydraulic and electric systems run both manually and/orautomatically through a control system. Additional connections could bemade by other means known by persons skilled in the art which includebut are not limited to valve and suction device connectors. One or moremoveable clamps or internal vices 126 can be used to clamp and hold thecontainer securely, as needed. The process can be reversed to allow forquick and automated removal of equipment in a container.

The amount of purification would be controlled to create a brine with adesired density. The throughputs and number of reverse osmosis stagescould be designed to achieve a specific density range of the densebrine. For drilling brine, typically the density would be 10 pounds or260,000 PPM or TDS. The density can vary from 8.4-pounds to 20-poundsand is preferably between 9 to 14 pounds. Density sensors such as,conductivity sensors could be connected to a control system to controlthe flow and number of reverse osmosis treatments to obtain a favorabledensity of the discharge brine.

Drilling Mud

Drilling fluids are used as a suspension tool to keep drill cuttingsfrom causing problems in the wellbore and subterranean formations. Theviscosity of the drilling fluid increases when movement decreases. Thisallows the fluid to have a liquid consistency when drilling is occurringand then turn into a more solid substance when drilling has stopped.Cuttings are typically suspended in the well until the drill is againinserted. This gel-like substance then transforms again into a liquidwhen drilling starts back up. Drilling fluids help control pressure in awell by offsetting the pressure of the hydrocarbons and the rockformations. Weighing agents are added to the drilling fluids to increaseits density and, therefore, its pressure on the walls of the well.

An important embodiment of drilling fluids is rock stabilization.Special additives are used to ensure that the drilling fluid is notabsorbed by the rock formation in the well and that the pores of therock formation are not clogged.

The longer the well, the more drill pipe is needed to drill the well.This amount of drill pipe gets heavy, and the drilling fluid addsbuoyancy, reducing stress. Additionally, drilling fluid helps to reducefriction with the rock formation, reducing heat. This lubrication andcooling help to prolong the life of equipment such as, the drill bit.

Drilling fluids can be based on water, oil or synthetic base stocks, andeach composition provides different solutions in the well. If rockformation is composed of salt or clay, proper action must be taken forthe drilling fluids to be effective. A drilling fluid engineer skilledin the art oversees the drilling, adding drilling fluid additivesthroughout the process to achieve more buoyancy or minimize friction,whatever the need may be. In one embodiment, the density of the brine ismatched with the additives used to achieve the most favorable drillingfluid properties. In another embodiment, the composition, amount andtype of drilling additive is chosen based on the brine component fromthe purification equipment. Drilling mud experts based on thedisclosures herein would be able to obtain the most favorable propertiesby controlling the degree of purification and the additives used in thebrine discharge prior to use as a drilling fluid.

Thermal Energy Recapture

FIG. 13 illustrates a prior art heat exchanger that is typically used insteam generation. The heat exchanger 131 has a series of plates 132.Cold water 133 is inserted through an inlet 134 and runs through aseries of plates 132 before exiting an outlet 135 after receiving heatenergy from steam or hot air 136 that is inserted through an inlet 137and exits the outlet 138. U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0061493 A1discloses conventional heat exchangers and heat exchangers used in waterpurification systems. U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0061493 A1 ishereby incorporated by reference.

In the past costly equipment that wasted much of the energy of the steamwas utilized in a series of heat exchanger and flash tanks as shown inFIG. 14 of U.S. Patent Application No. 2005/0061493. FIG. 1 of U.S.Patent Application No. 2005/0061493 shows that a vapor compressionsevaporator is used outside of the heat exchanger to mix the feed andseparate out concentrated product from distilled water using steamgenerated by a jet ejector. In contrast to U.S. Patent Application No.2005/0061493, in an embodiment, this invention uses specificallyengineered multiple flow paths inside an apparatus such as, a heatexchanger to quickly and efficiently use gravity differences in theapparatus to separate the purified vapor from the initial contaminatedfluid. In another embodiment, a series of small baffles and openings areengineered inside the tubing to efficiently separate the salt water andpurified steam. The baffles create alternative flow patterns whereby thelighter and faster moving steam is separated naturally from thecontaminated fluid by gravity differences. In a third embodiment,interior sections of the heat exchangers are designed to create flashchambers and/or multi-effect chambers, distillation columns, andcondensation vessels.

This apparatus enables a process for the efficient separation of a vaporvolatile component from a non-volatile component in a mixture. In somecases, the non-volatile component comprises a salt or metals, a sugarand the volatile component comprises water. In other cases, the watercontains dissolved and/or undissolved chemicals.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of an embodiment using baffles and smallopenings to create alternative flow paths. The heat exchanger 131 inthis figure has been modified from the prior art heat exchanger in FIG.13 . Similar elements in FIG. 13 have been given the same referencenumerals in FIG. 14 . In the embodiment shown in FIG. 14 an additionaloutlet 140 and flow paths 141 has been created for the contaminatedfluid with a portion of the fluid removed as purified fluid 142 asvapor. Separate flow paths are created for the remnant contaminatedfluid 143 removed from the vapor stream 142, using aligned holes 148 inbaffles 147. The baffles 147 with the aligned holes 148 can be placed inthe plates or tubes of a standard heat exchanger. In this embodiment,gravity causes the lighter purified vapor to rise and the heaviercontaminated fluid to fall as shown in the arrows in the vertical flowpaths. Additional pumps 144 and drains 145 may be utilized to quicklyremove the contaminated fluid from the purified fluid, in the horizontalflow paths, as discussed below.

FIG. 15 is an illustration of an embodiment using slanted baffles 150and small openings 31 to create alternative flow paths. The heatexchanger 3 in this figure has been modified from the prior art heatexchanger in FIG. 13 . Similar elements in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 have beengiven the same reference numerals in FIG. 15 . In the embodiment shownin FIG. 15 , the baffles are slanted 150. The slanted baffles 150 insidethe heat exchanger 131 create areas in which purified vapor canaccumulate above the small openings 151, in the vertical flow paths.These areas then become stages in a multi-stage distillation system. Ina preferred embodiment, the baffles, or equivalent devices create atleast three distinct flash chamber stages. In an alternative embodiment,aligned holes and/or tubing create condensation and/or contaminatesusing multiple alternative paths.

A multi-stage flash distillation (“MSF”) is typically a waterdesalination process that distills sea water by flashing a portion ofthe water into steam in multiple stages of what are essentiallycounter-current heat exchangers. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 15 ,each slanted baffle 150 can act as a separate concurrent heat exchangerwhere purified steam rises, and contaminated fluids are removed asheavier contaminated fluids via the small openings 151. FIG. 15 shows ineach plate section three separate flash chambers above the smallopenings 151 in the MSF system engineered inside a heat exchanger. Inthis embodiment, each slanted baffle is a stage in the MSF process.Additional flow paths such as, tubing can be inserted to each slantedbaffle stage to remove the purified vapor and remove the contaminatedfluid. MSF distillation can include distillation columns and/or multipleeffect chambers wherein typically small water droplets are vaporizedusing hot coils.

In one embodiment, valves can be used to remove the contaminated fluid.For example, valves that can be selectively opened based on pressure ordensity or weight differences can be activated, when necessary or withfavorable conditions for removal. Denser or heavier contaminated waterwould then activate the valve as it accumulates and allow thecontaminated water to be removed and the distilled water to proceed tothe next stage of the flash chamber or to exit as purified vapor thatcan later be condensed to distilled water.

Comparable to FIG. 15 , separate flow paths are created for the purifiedvapor 142. The purified vapor travels between the slanted baffles. Thecontaminated fluid is removed using aligned holes, tubing or valves inthe slanted baffles. The baffles with the aligned holes can be placed inthe plates or tubes of a standard heat exchanger.

The creation of sections of condensation and separate flow paths insidea heat exchanger avoids the need for additional equipment and lessenergy is used to create the steam to power traditional steamdistillation processes. This results in reduced capital costs andreduced waste energy or energy costs in purifying fluids.

In one embodiment, at least some of the vapor stream is used to createadditional vapor from the feed or contaminated stream by feeding orrecycling the purified vapor stream through the heat exchanger withoutany multiple flow paths. Once the vapor stream is fully separated thevapor is purified water and thus there is no need to purify or separatethe fluid stream any further. However, in one embodiment, the vapor maybe separated into multiple streams by condensing or removing lowertemperature distilled water from the vapor so the streams can be usedmore efficiently to transfer heat energy to the heat exchanger or otherprocesses, as needed. In this embodiment, the heat of condensationprovides the heat of evaporation to the feed or contaminated streaminside the heat exchanger. The separation may be done throughdistillation columns or a plurality of flow paths using the densitydifferences. For example, a vertical flow path can be given a series ofbaffles and openings or additional tubing to create verticaldistillation column with multiple flash chambers and outlets. In anotherembodiment, the condensing, evaporating and recycling steps are allperformed inside the heat exchanger.

This condensing, evaporating and recycling of purified vapor and/or thebrine condensate can be part of the separation processes which can bedone inside the heat exchange to further reduce capital costs andfurther reduce waste heat or kinetic energy of the fluids. For example,vertical runs of the heat exchanger can be engineered to have multipleoutlets to serve as a distillation column removing vapor from condensedwater. Horizontal runs can have separation devices such as, baffles,valves and other devices that selectively removes the denser salt waterconcentrate. This removed salt water concentrate or brine can then berecycled back into the heat exchanger or through a pre-heating device torecapture the heat energy. This preheater can be separate or combinedwith the preheater obtaining the heat from another source, such aswellbore produced fluids.

In one embodiment, the preheater becomes a condensing device. In thisembodiment, the heat is transferred from the vapor to the preheatedfluid to be purified in a heat exchange device. This heat transfercauses the vapor to condense into liquid form an after exiting thepreheater can be stored as purified liquid.

For example, spin valves can spin the water allowing the densitydifferences to cause the water to separate. In this embodiment, thecentrifugal forces can be used to separate water vapor from water andwater with contaminates. Alternatively, baffles can create turbidityflow current and allow the higher density fluids to settle, directly orindirectly. Alternatively, in a semi-closed system, the contaminatedfluid could be periodically removed when contaminates levels get toohigh and replaced with less concentrated salt water or contaminatedwater. Sensors or modelling or density can be used to determine theapproximate concentration levels and remove any fluid with too high alevel of contaminates.

FIG. 16 shows a spiral or conical half tube embodiment. As shown in FIG.16 a conical half tube 160 has aligned holes 161 and an opening in themiddle 162. Multiple flow paths are created for the lighter vapor torise 163 through the middle and the aligned holes and a flow path down164 is created along the conical tube to allow the heavier containmentfluid to flow unobstructed. The spherical embodiment can be used totransfer heat and a distillation column or flash chambers, as describedabove can be in the middle. The spiral water tray can be a spring toallow for easy removal for maintenance including maintenance to addressscaling, corrosion issues, as described below.

FIG. 17 is a cross section showing possible flow paths for the conicalshape condensation plate 170 in FIG. 16 . For example, the flow pathsfor the contaminated fluid are shown as arrows 171 and the flow pathsfor the purified vapor are shown as arrows 173. This conical shapecondensation plate can be engineered to be installed in most heatexchangers. A base pipe with the condensation plate inside can also beinserted in a heat exchanger. The flow paths, as shown by the arrows,can easily be reversed based on equipment designs and or operationalneeds. Additional filters such as mesh filters can be placed in thetubing to filter out contaminates and prevent vapor or steam carryingthe contaminates entrained by reducing energy flows.

In one embodiment, a combination of designs can be utilized to createmultiple flow paths for the contaminated fluid and in some embodiments,multiple flow paths for the purified vapor. Persons skilled in the art,with the benefit of the disclosures herein, may choose the design orcombination of designs best suited for the needs of the operator.

Pressure differences utilizing pumps and other devices can furtherimprove the apparatus and process. Pressure can be recycled, stored, orrecaptured, as needed, using the energy recovery devices describedabove. In on embodiment, the produced water is run through a unit thatrecaptures heat energy (such as, heat exchanger or pre-warmer) and anenergy recovery device to capture the pressure. Capturing the heatenergy and pressure energy can be done with a combined device or throughseparate equipment run in series or parallel.

In an embodiment, pressure and gravity differences push the purifiedvapor upwards and cause the contaminated fluid to drop. In a preferredembodiment, the baffles, screens and openings can be engineered tocreate interconnected compartments and each compartment will work as aflash distillation chamber in an MSF as discussed above. Finally, drainscan be placed on the bottom to remove any heavy sediments andconcentrated contaminated fluids. These drains can include valves orcontrolled openings to selectively remove the heavier fluids or denserfluids because of the increased concentration of contaminates.

In a preferred embodiment, the amount of vapor separated is controlledto allow a preferred amount of purified vapor produced while minimizingthe amount of energy loss from the contaminated fluid. This can beaccomplished using three methods. First, the baffles can be adjusted toallow the water more time inside the apparatus which will allow thewater to absorb more heat energy and allow a larger percentage of thecontaminated fluid to be converted into purified vapor. Second, heatedcontaminated fluids can be recycled through the apparatus causingadditional steam to be extracted from the water. Third, at least onepath that is engineered to remove the contaminated fluids can be closedwhich will cause additional time in the heat exchanger resulting in moreproduced purified vapor. Valves, shunts, adjustable walls, screens andany combinations thereof can be used to cause at least one path to beclosed. Additional devices known to persons skilled in the art can beutilized. These devices can be operated using the control systemsdescribed below.

A few selected openings, baffles, perforated tubing, shunts, screens andcombinations thereof can be engineered to create a series of connectedsections and operate as a series of multiple flash distillation or MSFsystems inside the heat exchanger. Each section will further purify thefluids as gravity causes the liquids with contaminates to separate andthe lighter vapor moves to the next section with less contaminates.Lowering the pressure by attaching a pump on the outlet on the top ofthe heat exchanger can further increase the efficiency by causing thepurified vapor to quickly exit the heat exchanger and lowers the boilingpoint of the fluid. In addition, pumping the contaminated fluid out canquickly remove the contaminated fluid with higher contamination levels.In the past efforts have focused on removing as much water as possible.Whereas, this inventive method works by quickly removing the steam fromthe contaminated water and allowing higher concentrations ofcontaminated water to be quickly removed once the levels become too highto no longer be efficient.

In a preferred embodiment, the process quickly takes the initial vaporproduced and quickly removes the contaminated fluid such as, salt wateronce the desired density is achieved. This improves efficiency becauseas contaminates content increases in the contaminated fluid so does theboiling point. The preferred process is to produce enough purified vaporto meet the required needs of the brine discharge while minimizing theamount of energy the process takes. The higher boiling point ofcontaminated fluids with higher concentration of contaminates requiresmore energy which reduces the efficiency. In addition, the salt waterrequires more corrosion resistant material which increases the cost ofany apparatuses necessary to utilize this invention. Accordingly, inthis embodiment, the contaminated water is quickly removed from thepurified steam once the desired density is achieved. Therefore, minimalenergy is wasted on the contaminated water and this also minimizes theadditional expense of having too much of the material be highlycorrosion resistant to impurities in the water. In situations wherepurified water is not required, this invention can be used to preventcorrosion on the equipment used to produce steam. This will make thesteam production more economical by reducing wasted energy on heatingcontaminates while also reducing the need for corrosion resistantmaterials.

In one embodiment, the desired density is chosen to match the densityneeds of the drilling salt needed at the site or an offsite location orfrom a third-party customer. Typically, drilling brine comes in standarddensities and additives are added at mixing stations or at the drillingsite to obtain the desired densities, as discussed previously. In oneembodiment, the equipment and systems are optimized to provide brinewith a density of at least 7 and no more than 14 pounds per gallon. Morespecifically, the brine has a density of least 7 and no more than 13pounds per gallon and most specifically, the brine has a density of over10 and no more than 13 pounds per gallon., as discussed previously.

While the preferred level to remove contaminates will be based on manyfactors including the amount of energy available, the amount of waterneeded, and the efficiency and/or capabilities of the system includingcorrosion tolerance of the equipment. Preferably, if no brine is needed,the amount of salt water or other contaminates should be kept below 300parts per trillion (“ppt”) or grams of contaminates per kilogram ofsolution (g/kg). Sometimes it can be expressed as (mg/l) for volume. Seawater is generally 35 ppt or 35,000 ppm. In a preferred embodiment anycontaminated water above 70 ppt is removed, and even more preferred anycontainments over 50 ppt is removed and in the most preferred embodimentany water with a contaminate level of above 40 ppt is removed. Thecontrol system described below can choose the most favorablecontamination level that water should be removed based on the abovefactors and other factors chosen by the operator.

Scaling

As discussed previously, scaling is a major issue. In variousembodiments, scaling can be controlled or minimized. In one embodiment,use of material that is resistant to scaling is used. U.S. PatentApplication No. 2012/0118722A1 discloses many materials that are scaleresistant. U.S. Patent Application No. 2012/0118722A1 is herebyincorporated by reference. In addition, nanoparticles that are resistantto scaling can be attached or sprayed on the equipment to preventscaling.

In one embodiment, as discussed above and below, corrosion and scalingcan be reduced using f hydrophobic coating. For example, hydrophobiccoating can be made from a nanoscopic surface layer that repels water,which is referred to as super hydrophobic coating. Hydrophobic coatingcan be made from many different materials. The coating can be selectedfrom the group consisting of manganese oxide polystyrene (MnO2/PS)nanocomposite, zinc oxide polystyrene (ZnO/PS) nanocomposite,precipitated calcium carbonate, carbon nanotube structures, silica,nanocoating, and any combination thereof. Advances in three-dimensional(“3-D”) printing technology can print a thin layer of hydrophobiccoating on the equipment. Hydrophobic coating can be expensive and timeconsuming so persons skilled in the art would preferably only performhydrophobic coating on selected equipment likely to suffer fromcorrosion and scaling such as, equipment in contact with highconcentrations of impurities, for example, salt water, or produced wateror heavy brine. Using the multiple flow paths embodiments of theinvention, it would be preferable to coat the contaminated water pathswith hydrophobic coatings but not the purified water paths as thepurified water would cause little or no corrosion and/or scaling.

A 3-D Printer can be used to apply a thin layer of corrosion resistantmaterial or paint on the interior of equipment subject to highconcentrations of impurities, for example, salt water. Three-dimensionalprinting can also help with manufacturing the multiple flow paths insideequipment. In 3-D printing, additive processes are used, in whichsuccessive layers of material are laid down under computer control.These objects can be of almost any shape or geometry and are producedfrom a 3-D model or electronic data source. A 3-D printer is a type ofindustrial robot allowing manufacturing of complex design. A 3-D printercan print selective parts used in the equipment or can print the entireequipment used in the embodiments described herein.

An additional embodiment of this invention addresses the scaling issueby quickly removing the contaminated water. First, the purified vapor isquickly removed from the contaminated fluid by separate unobstructedflow paths. In one embodiment, ERD can be used to create pressuredifferences to create the flow paths. The ERD and/or Pumps can bedeployed to quickly extract the purified vapor from the contaminatedfluid. The pumps can further create low pressure which will lower theboiling point and thus reduce the scaling issue as well as increaseefficiency of the process. The advantages of lower pressure are furtherdiscussed below.

A third embodiment requires multiple flow paths providing purified vaporand contaminated water several flow paths respectively minimizingresistance. This embodiment also has the redundancy advantage if one ormore flow paths become blocked with contaminates or scaling, the processcan continue with the alternative flow paths. One option is to create amaze design, as discussed below.

In a fourth embodiment, the concentration of salts and othercontaminates are controlled so that the contaminated fluid is removedbefore the concentration gets too high and scaling becomes a majorissue. This can be accomplished by attaching pumps at the contaminatedfluid outlet to quickly remove contaminates. Furthermore, additionaldrains and valves can be placed in the apparatus to quickly removeheavier contaminated fluids with higher concentrations. In thisembodiment, synergistic benefits include less scaling, less corrosionand less energy needed to heat higher concentrations of contaminatedfluids. A person skilled in the art can use the apparatus disclosedherein to reduce scaling and reduce corrosion as separate and distinctbenefits.

In a fifth embodiment, purified fluid or fluids with lower levels ofcontaminates is run through the apparatus to dissolve contaminates andremove the scaling. The purified fluid or fluids with lower contaminatescan be run intermittently on a schedule or as necessary, to removescaling.

Maze Design

In one embodiment, purified vapor is extracted and separated by use of amaze design. This design incorporates a maze design allowing more thanone flow path or multiple flow paths. to constrain contaminated fluidswhile letting the lighter vapor pass through without interruptingproduction. In a preferred embodiment, a screen contains a series ofcompartments along a selectively perforated base pipe inside the screenthat allows alternative path flows.

In an even more preferred embodiment, each compartment contains aprimary screen, outer housing, flow baffles, and a secondary screen.This embodiment can create numerous or at least three or moreinterconnected alternative flow paths. If the pipes are horizontalbaffles can direct the water flow away from the holes connected to thepurified vapor flows.

FIG. 18 is an illustration of the maze design embodiment. This figureshows a perforated pipe 180 with at least one screen 181. This createsthree separate flow paths. The three paths are inside the perforatedpipe 182, inside the screen but outside the perforated pipe 183 andoutside the screen but inside the apparatus 184 such as, heat exchanger.Additional baffles, screens and pipes may be added as necessary toincrease flow and increase flow paths. The proposed flow paths for thepurified vapor is shown as arrow 185 and for the contaminated fluid asarrow 186 in FIG. 18 . These flow paths can be reversed to obtainfavorable flow paths based on operational and equipment parameters.

Fluids and vapor flow into the primary screen and then are redistributedby the flow baffles. The vapor, which now flows more uniformly, travelsthrough the secondary screen and into the perforated base pipe where itcommingles with produced vapor from other compartments. The increasedresistance from the screens and flow baffles will allow gravity toseparate the heavier contaminated fluid from the lighter vapor. Anadditional benefit of the maze design is if one path gets obstructedwith contaminates, the fluid and vapor flow is then diverted to theadjacent undamaged-screen compartments. Persons skilled in the art willuse fluid flow dynamics, to preferably engineer the maze design toachieve the greatest efficiency based on various variables. Thesevariables include fluid type, type and amount of contaminates, energysource and costs, fluid loading, thermodynamics, amount of desired fluidflow and desired purified vapor production among other factors known topersons skilled in the art.

In one embodiment, the proposed equipment comprises a heat exchangerburner combination with three main concentric cylindrical sectionsinside an outer housing. As shown in FIG. 18 a below, the outercylindrical section is a finned tube heat exchanger above the gas burnerto transfer the heat. The middle section handles the contaminatedproduced water through a gravity feed connection using pumps, if needed.The contaminated water travels through three sections or water traysusing baffles and multiple redundant nozzles to control flow rates. Theinnermost section comprises the distillation column using slanted tubesto separate the lighter vapor from heavier contaminate fluids throughgravity separation using multiple alternative flow paths in thedistillation column.

FIG. 22 a is an isometric cross-sectional view of the X-Vap™ thermaldistillation equipment 180. The right portion of FIG. 22 a is the topsection and the left portion with the gas lines 181 and burner 182 isthe bottom section. The equipment comprises a heat exchanger 183 andburner 182 integrated combination with three main concentric cylindricalsections inside an outer housing 184. The outer cylindrical sectioncontains he finned tube heat exchanger 181 above the gas burner 182 totransfer the heat. The middle section handles the contaminated producedwater through a gravity feed connection 185 or can use pumps (notshown), if needed. The contaminated water travels through three sectionsor water trays 186 using baffles and/or multiple redundant nozzles tocontrol flow rates. The innermost section comprises the distillationcolumn 188 using slanted tubes 187 to separate the lighter vapor fromheavier contaminate fluids through multiple alternative flow paths andgravity. The entire heat exchanger can be encased in insulation tominimize heat loss from the burners. If necessary, internal baffles canbe used to create multiple flash chambers; however, most applications donot require the slanted baffles provide the necessary separations. Ifrequired, a more traditional design with multiple flash chambers can beutilized if problems develop with the distillation column shown above,based on the type of fluids being treated. A multiple flash chamberdistillation column can be inserted into the existing design shown abovein FIG. 22 a , if required. In addition, the distillation column isdesigned to be easily removed, inserted and cleaned for streamlined andcost-effective maintenance when corrosion and scale issues arise. In oneembodiment the water tray sections 186 can be replaced by a helicalspring to provide consistent fluid flow and contact with the heatexchanger for better heat transfer. In another embodiment a pressuredevice such as, a vacuum pump can be used to reduce the pressure insidethe heat exchanger to lower the temperature of thermal distillation

Low-Temperature Thermal Desalination

Another embodiment is to use pressure gradients in the apparatus tocreate additional efficiencies. Low-temperature thermal desalination(“LTTD”) takes advantage of water boiling at low pressures. In oneembodiment, vacuum pumps create a low-pressure, lower temperatureenvironment in which water boils at temperature below 80° C. or at atemperature gradient of as low as 1-2° C., typically 8-10° C. and asmuch as 20° C. or more between two volumes of water. This cold water ispumped through coils to condense the water vapor. The resultingcondensate is purified water. In this embodiment, cold water will bepumped through the vapor to further condense and purify the water vapor.In a preferred embodiment, the LTTD can be combined with the standardheat exchanger modified with this claimed invention to create additionalefficiencies. The LTTD can be engineered inside or outside the heatexchanger. In this embodiment, purified water vapor is created attemperatures less than 100° C., more preferably less than 90° C. andeven more preferably less than 80° C. and most preferably less than 70°C. In this embodiment, the pumps create a low-pressure area inside theheat exchanger of atmospheric or less, less than 1 bar, more preferablyless than 0.9 bar, even more preferably less than 0.8 bar and mostpreferably less than 0.7 bar.

In one embodiment, periodic colder water of at least 1 Celsius and lessthan 20 Celsius can be used to create a temperature gradient. In oneembodiment, cold or room temperature water would be periodically pumpedthrough the system. A series of apparatuses or heat exchangers describedabove could be used.

When a heat exchanger is not needed, lower temperature water would thenbe sent through the system to keep the purification ongoing despite theheat exchanger not being needed. A computer control, as disclosed below,would determine the optimum fluid streams and temperature to get themost efficient purification based on temperature differences andcontamination levels. Valves can control the water streams runningthrough the heat exchangers to get the most beneficent thermaldesalination by combining different streams of fluid or watertemperature. This process would be most efficient for industrialprocesses that require cooling as the cooling water can be used tocreate at least part of the heat energy for the fluid purificationprocess. Some power plants, such as, nuclear power require large coolingtowers to reduce the water temperature. This presents an opportunity touse the heat energy released from cooling the water using the waterpurification process described above and metal and mineral extractionprocess describe below.

Atomizer to Create Aerosol

The definition of an aerosol is a “mixture of gas and liquid particles.”More specifically, an aerosol is a colloid of fine liquid droplets(sometimes with fine solid particles), in air or another gas. The liquidor solid particles have diameter mostly (more than 50%) smaller than 1μm.

An atomizer nozzle is typically used to create aerosol or atomizedfluid. When a fast gas stream is injected into the atmosphere and acrossthe top of the vertical tube, it is forced to follow a curved path up,over and downward on the other side of the tube. This curved pathcreates a lower pressure on the inside of the curve at the top of thetube. This curve-caused lower pressure near the tube and the atmosphericpressure further up is the net force causing the curved,velocity-changed path (radial acceleration) shown by Bernoulli'sprinciple. The difference between the reduced pressure at the top of thetube and the higher atmospheric pressure inside the bottle pushes theliquid from the reservoir up the tube and into the moving stream of airwhere it is broken up into small droplets (not atoms as the namesuggests) and carried away with the stream of air.

Another option is to use a nebulizer. Nebulizers use oxygen, compressedair or ultrasonic power to break up solutions and suspensions into smallaerosol droplets.

Another option is to use centrifugal forces to help separate the vaporfrom fluid. In this embodiment, the innermost tube or central tube canbe subjected to centrifugal forces by rotation, Alternatively, amembrane can be installed inside the inner tube to help with separation.The membrane can be cleaned by backwashing. Finally, a low pressure ornegative pressure or vacuum pump can be attached to allow lowtemperature evaporation. The combination of these technologies cancreate an efficient system. In one embodiment the combination of anatomizer, and vapor extraction with the rotation of the tubes can createa system to efficient little or no additional heat is necessary. In thisembodiment, a tube inside a tube design allows the entire atomization,vaporization and separation to occur in one device. The condensation canthen be used to transfer heat to the feed water to make the process moreefficient. U.S. Pat. No. 9,044,692 describes how an atomizer can helpwith thermal distillation. U.S. Pat. No. 9,044,692 is herebyincorporated by reference.

Post Treatment System

Typically, the water produced from reverse osmosis needs to be treatedto meet certain specification for industrial, municipal and agriculturalusage. This process can be at a treatment center (to save space) or atthe plant or on an offshore platform, as needed. Known post treatmentequipment and processes, such as asses small amount of minerals can beutilized used by persons skilled in the art to obtain favorable resultsusing the embodiments, as described herein. These minerals can even besmall amounts of minerals that were removed during the metals andminerals removal processes, as described herein. In addition, theequipment can be engineered to fit inside a container to allow for thequick insertion and removal of post treatment equipment. Valves andpiping can route or flow water through post treatment processes, asneeded.

Combining Thermal Distillation with Membrane Filtration

FIG. 19 illustrates a method or process that combines both thermaldistillation and reverse osmosis water purification. The thermaldistillation is at least partially powered by using an energy source orwaste heat on the apparatus. The contaminated water such as, producedwater is flowed through the reverse osmosis membranes using pressurecaptured from the pressure recovery device attached to the wellbore. Thethermal energy can be obtained partially or completely from thewellbore. In one embodiment, the process involves six steps. First, aheat exchanger and/or energy recovery device can be attached to awellbore 191. Second, produced water ids flowed through the apparatus orenergy recovery device 192. Third, an energy sourced is used on theproduced water to create a vapor state fraction 193. Fourth, aseparation device such as, multiple flow paths or centrifuge is used toseparate the vapor state 194. Fifth, the density of the brine or densecondensate is measured 195. Finally, once a desired density of the densecondensate is achieved, the purified water and contaminated fluidcontaining the dense condensate are removed 196.

Containerization

Another issue with onsite and offshore applications is the cost anddifficulty of placing operating crews onsite especially for remote oroffshore operations. Onsite and/or offshore crews need to be highlytrained and compensated as they spend long periods of time onsite. Inaddition, the supply costs for essentials such as, food water and othernecessitates adds to the costs. Automation has reduced the personnelneeded in these onsite and offshore operations. Such automation includesthe SCADA systems described herein.

Recent technological advantageous have allowed almost all equipmentincluding thermal distillation and reverse osmosis equipment to bemodular and scalable. Other purification equipment such as, thermalpurification can be manufactured to be modular and scalable. Thisincludes the pumps, power circuits and relays, pre-filtering equipmentand post treatment as well as the reverse osmosis membranes.

For example, Lenntech supplies any type of water treatment in acontainerized version. The advantageous of containerization include plugand play unit, quick installation, limited design work, smaller footprint, mobile and easy transportation, turnkey delivery includingpiping, cables, air conditioning. However, in one embodiment, theindividual components can be all made to be containerized to allow anentire plant, or substantially the entire plant, or at least most of theplant or field unit to be containerized. The piping and valves of theplant can be designed to allow for any container to be bypassed if acontainer needs repair, maintenance, or a container equipment and theresulting processes are not needed to favorably treat the water. Theflow of the water can be controlled by the control system using sensors,valves, pumps and flow diverters as described below.

In one remote embodiment, the ship, or offshore plant or remote plant ata well site or mining site will need to be modified to provide propercontainer infrastructure including container foundations, interconnectedpiping and electrical supplies. In one embodiment, the containerizationof a water treatment plant does not only include the supply of acontainer, it includes the complete installation of the plant. This canbe accomplished by having each container provide all the necessarycomponents. The container can provide connected piping between equipmentpumps, vessels, skids, tanks along with cabling and wiring of pumps andinstrumentation inside the container that is connected to or incommunication with the main controls or control system. However,increased efficiency and improved economy of scale can be obtained byhaving each container represent a specific stage or process in the saltwater desalination process. The containers can then be run in parallel,series or combinations with crossover controlled by the SCADA system, asdescribed above.

Most containers are 20- or 40-foot containers. In one embodiment, thecontainerization includes all piping and fittings connected, all cablesand wires connected to instrument and control cabinet. This is a “plugand play” unit supply.

The container can have at least one removable wall or wall section, oneinlet/outlet (terminal point), and floor drainage and can be air cooledif needed. Each plant can be fully 3D-designed prior to construction tooptimize space and placement of the containers. In this embodiment, theentire plant is modular and scalable and takes advantage of the designonce build many. In addition, advances in technology can be seamlesslyinserted into eh process during routine maintenance and upgrades throughsupply ships.

Reverse Osmosis units often required pre-treatment for the followingparameters: suspended solids, TOC, COD/BOD, hydrocarbons, iron,manganese, and hardness. In one embodiment, one container provides allthe pre-treatment and process requirements. Alternatively, eachcontainer can house a specific pre-treatment option and the controlsystem can route the water to the various pre-treatment options toobtain favorable properties.

In another embodiment, a set of containers houses the reverse osmosismembranes and additional set(s) of containers houses the pumps andelectrical circuitry. To run the pumps and energy recapture equipment.The pump and electoral containers can then be strategically placed toprovide the most efficient pumping system for the plant based on thedesign and performance specification of the plant. Energy and pressurerecapture systems likewise can be placed inside the pump containers orcan be placed in separate containers as needed. Pump skids can combinethe pumping equipment into one central unit that is pre-wired, pre-pipedand easy to install. These pumps skids can be engineered to fit inside acontainer, using the disclosure and containerization embodimentsdescribed above. With flexible and variable drivers and electroniccomponents a selected pump or series of pumps can run multiplecomponents and/or containers to optimize the operating efficiencies.

In another embodiment, the location of the power, input fluid lines, andfirst and second effluent lines are prearranged in a specificembodiment. The housing is adopted to automatically connect with quickdisconnects the power lines, and piping lines in the plant with thecontainer housing containing all the aligned corresponding and matchingconnections.

Advances of robotic technology have allowed for quick and automaticpallet systems for moving and installing containers in an organized andefficient manner. These systems can be modified to house the containersand quickly install and/or remove any containers, as necessary. If acontainer breaks, the SCADA system can route the water purification to acontainer that his working and the automated system would quickly removethe malfunctioning container and replace with a working container in areserve storage. During resupply, the supply vehicle or ship would bringreplacement containers for broken container or containers needingservice and send the removed containers to be serviced or repair. Thiswould further reduce crew staffing as very little maintenance would bedone onsite. In addition, the automated container system would maximizespace and would not require large works areas for maintenance crews tooperate thus, saving space on the site, offshore ship or platform. Forquick maintenance, sections of the container wall or the entirecontainer wall can be removed for maintenance purposes. For example,screws, fasteners of bolts can hold a wall or a wall section securelyyet allow for the easy removal for maintenance and repairs.

Cooling Tower Embodiment

In one embodiment, the water processing system including any heatexchangers could be used as part of an industrial plant cooling system.In this embodiment, an industrial plant cooling system comprises a heatexchanger, as adapted above to cool fluids or air while purifying water.In many plants, a cooling system is used to cool fluids or air beforerelease into the environment. This would be beneficial for coal plantswhere there is significant waste heat and significant water that need tobe processed and purified. In one embodiment, the systems and methodscan be used to remove valuable metals and minerals including REE fromcoal process water using energy and/or pressure from the coal plant.

In one embodiment, the cooling tower can be retrofitted or engineered tohave at least one or a plurality of heat exchangers that uses the heatenergy of water to distill water by vaporizing the water. Condensationcan also be used to improve the efficiency of the water purificationprocess. In this embodiment, additional flow paths would be created toremove pure condensation throughout the process. Furthermore, air orwater flowing through the process, either directly or indirectly can beadjusted to maximize water condensation. Steam and water pressure can berecaptured using an ERD, as described earlier.

FIG. 20 illustrates a schematic showing a cooling tower embodiment. Inthe Example shown in FIG. 20 , a heat source 200 creates steam in asteam generator 201 and the steam powers steam generator 202. The steamgenerator 202 powers the turbine generator 203 which produceselectricity that is sent to the electric grid 204. Steam 205 is flowedinto steam condenser 206 where the steam is condensed into water and isused to pre-heat water as it is flowed into the steam generator 201, asshown by arrow 207. Alternatively, the steam condenser 206 can be theinventive heat exchanger, for example, from FIG. 3 and be used toproduce water (not shown). In the example with the heat exchangerreplacing the steam condenser 206, the heat exchanger 210 could beoutside the cooling tower 218 or inside the cooling tower 218.

Cool water is flowed into (shown as arrow 208) the steam condenser 206and leaves as hot water (shown as arrow 209) and is flowed into thecooling tower 207. The hot water 209 is then flowed through at least oneheat exchanger 210 (and most likely, a plurality of heat exchangers)inside the cooling tower 207. Contaminated water 211 is flowed into theheat exchanger 210 and a portion is removed as purified water 212.Multiple flow paths 213 exit the heat exchanger 210 and enter the bottom214 of cooling tower 207. A portion of the water on the bottom 214 isflowed through steam condenser 206, as shown by arrow 208 and a portionis removed as blow down, as shown by arrow 215. Additional make-up water216 can be inserted into the cooling tower 207, as shown by arrow 216.Excess hot air or water vapor can exit the top of the cooling tower 207,as shown by arrows 217.

In an alternative embodiment, a series of heat exchangers inside (oroutside) the cooling tower 218 can selectively create purified waterthrough LTTD by using the different temperatures of various streams offluid travelling through the system. In this embodiment, a plurality ofheat exchangers, would be fed by a plurality of streams of fluid basedon water temperatures to obtain favorable condensation and purification,as discussed above. This system can be combined or replaced with vaporextraction, as described above. The control system, as discussed below,would choose and regulate the streams to provide the most efficientsystem, based on water demands and cooling needs of the system.

Coal and nuclear power require tremendous cooling and would be suitablefor this process as well as natural gas which requires less cooling butstill needs some cooling. All steam based electrical generation whichrequires cooling could benefit from the water purification embodimentsdescribed herein.

Industrial Park Embodiment

In one embedment, the heat exchanger is used as a system and method forefficiently running industrial parks. Industrial plants or parks areusually large warehouses or a series of warehouses to take advantage ofeconomy of scale sand shared services. The shared services could includeheat, water and electrical power. Accordingly, the waste heat orpressure or steam or water resources could be pulled together and sharedfor mutual benefit. In this system, any excess heat energy would be sentto another factory or could be sent to the heat exchanger to purifywater for cooling or other industrial processes.

Food Plant Embodiment

In food preparation, many factories use steam to prepare food includingcleaning, cooking and sterilization of food. The excess heat could beused to run the inventive heat exchanger and purify water. The water tobe purified can be an independent source or water produced from the foodpreparation that needs to be purified.

Desalination Plant Embodiment

An entire desalination plant could be built using the embodimentsdescribed herein. For example, the desalination plant could be coupledwith an electrical power plant where the waste steam is run through theheat exchangers to produce large volumes of water. Furthermore, the heatexchanger examples, could be combined with reverse osmosis plants tocreate additional synergies through shared heat transfer, based on theprincipals discussed herein.

Wellbore Embodiment

In one embodiment, the apparatus and method can be used on an oil andgas wellsite, or geothermal sites. The energy source can be heatgenerated by flare gas or heat energy from wellbore operations such as,fracking and steam and gravity assisted operations. Using this system,water intensive operations such as, fracking, Steam and Gravity Drainage(SAGD), and water flooding can use the process to use contaminated waterwith the additional benefit of having purified water as a product.

In another embodiment, the heat exchanger could be adopted to be awellbore distillation system. In this system, the heat exchanger wouldbe preferably easily transported to a wellsite and can be on one or moreskids, as described herein. The heat exchanger could then be coupledwith a heat source and contaminated water source. The heat source couldbe from the wellbore or equipment around the wellbore or from agenerator. In one embodiment, flare gas could be used to operate thegenerator and run the water purification system. This would help complywith regulations banning wasteful natural gas flaring. Likewise, thesystem could be used on offshore oil platforms where it is expensive anddifficult to provide fresh water for the platform and flaring is common.

Flare Gas Device

In on embodiment, gas can provide the energy for the heat exchangerapparatus. The flare gas can be from industry or from a wellbore.Recently, the oil and gas industry players are moving away from usingsalt water flooding because of all the problems with salt water. Theproblems from salt water include microbes, chemical reactions and saltwater scaling.

FIG. 21 is a schematic of a wellbore equipment apparatus 220 embodimentof this invention. As shown in FIG. 10 , a modified heat exchanger 221is provided. The heat exchanger 221 could be combined with otherequipment or be placed on an independent single skid system, asdiscussed below. For example, the single skid system could have a flaregas component to run the desalination equipment independently or can beadopted to work with outside componentry, to achieve a favorable system.

In this example shown in FIG. 21 , a power source 222 (or heat source)is used to create steam for injection into the wellbore through wellhead 223. Water is fed through water line 224 by pump 225 intode-aerator 226. De-aerated water 227 leaves the de-aerator 226 and flowsinto steam generator (or boiler) 228 to create steam streams 229 and 230controlled by valves 239 for injection into the wellbore through wellhead 223.

The excess heat stream 241 from steam generator 228 is controlled byvalve 242 and is run through heat exchanger 221 and can then be recycledinto the de-aerator as stream 243. A local contaminated water stream242, such as, salt-water is flowed into heat exchanger 221 for waterpurification and is separated into contaminated stream 244 controlled byvalve 245 and purified stream 246 controlled by valve 247. The purifiedwater as steam can then be injected into the wellbore through well head223 or can be flowed for other uses. The contaminated water can then besent for metal and mineral removal as discuss below.

A control panel 250 can be connected to any wellbore equipment ofapparatus 220 including but not limited to the power source 222 and theheat exchanger 221 to control and operate the system favorably. Thecontrol panel could be a SCADA system or be a remote connected to aSCADA system, as described below. Refinery or Industrial PlantEmbodiment:

FIG. 22 a-c illustrates a gas burner and heat exchanger, as describedbelow. The heat exchanger can have slanted baffles and holes or multistage cones (not shown) to create multiple flash chambers, as shown inFIG. 23 . FIG. 23 illustrates a tube in tube design where a series ofbaffles 922 and aligned holes 921 allow the water to accumulate instages and contaminates to drop out through aligned holes 921, into theouter tube and follow flow arrow 920, as described above. The purifiedvapor follows flow arrow 924.

In many industrial plants and refineries there are multiple productstreams and waste stream that are cooled before leaving the plant. Inone embodiment, the heat exchangers are modified to both cool theproduct and waste stream and produce water. For example, a standardshell and tube heat exchanger can easily be modified to cool and purifywaste water. FIG. 23 a-c is an example of such a modified tube and shellheat exchanger. In the example shown in FIG. 23 a-c , the heat exchangerhas an inlet and outlet and a plurality of tube connecting the inlet andoutlet. The tubes have been modified to allow multiple flow paths andseparation as described above.

FIG. 24 illustrates an example of a wellsite embodiment that can be runon natural gas including flare gas or alternatively geothermal or solarthermal. As shown in FIG. 24 the contaminated water which is typicallyin a storage tank 240 is run with pumps 241 through a preheater stripper243 and a gas burner 244 fed by methane gas line 245 connected to theheat exchanger 246. In one embodiment the methane gas line 245 canredirect gas being sent to a pipeline or flare boom at the wellsite.Alternatively, solar thermal or geothermal or waste heat energy canreplace the gas burner based on the disclosures herein. The heatexchanger can be any heat exchanger including a shell and tube or plateor hybrid or finned tube like those shown in FIG. 22 . The water in theheat exchanger is separated into a water vapor 247 that is sent with orwithout optional pumps that can serve as vapor extraction pumps throughthe pre-warmer to condense and increase the feed temperature of thecontaminated water 24 o before being sent to purified water tank 249.The brine 248 is sent to s a storage tank for reuse as a heavy drillingfluid or for disposal. Alternatively, the brine can be sent for furthertreatment to remove metal or minerals, as described below. The fume gasexhaust 254 can then sent with optional pumps 241 to hydrocarbonstripper 243 to create Co2 and air with the hydrocarbons being sent to ahydrocarbon recapture system 251 with the goal of selling thehydrocarbons. This system can be used as a CO2 recapture system forindustrial reuse or reinjection.

Discharge System

A static discharge device or multi-component variable device orcombinations can be employed to mix the effluent discharge water withseawater. A static system would utilize physical equipment such asbaffles or barriers to mix the water.

In one embodiment multiple fluid injectors can be used to insert and mixseawater with the effluent discharge. Furthermore, the seawaterdischarge and mixing can be used to generate electricity to improveoperational efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint. Another optionis to create preferential fluid flow to create mixing in the dischargetubing. Such a device is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No.62/245,285, filed Oct. 23, 2015 and published as US Patent Publicationno. 2017/10113194, which is hereby incorporated by reference. Inaddition, such as device can be coupled with hydroelectric generators tocreate electricity and provide power to the plant and any excess powercan be recycled into the power grid.

FIG. 25 is an elevational schematic showing embodiments to mix dischargefluids with saltwater while generating electricity. As shown in FIG. 25, the discharge pipe 370 flows discharge fluids, as shown by arrow 371.The discharge pipe 370 is shown as a gradually expanding pipe diameteras depth below the sea floor 317 increases. The discharge pipe 370 isshown with two inlets 372, two baffles 373 and only one paddle 374connected to the hydroelectric turbine generator 375. The inlets 372 areshown as mechanical funnels attached to the sidewalls of the dischargepipe 370. Additional or different inlets, paddles, baffles andgenerators and other equipment necessary to achieve favorable mixing canbe installed, as discussed above, or as known to persons skilled in theart, with the benefit of the disclosure herein.

As shown in FIG. 25 , a plurality of devices 376 for sealing off sectionof the pipe are installed. Suitable devices 376, for sealing off asection of pipe, include, but are not limited to, one-way valves,movable hatches, movable seals, selective flow membranes, orcombinations thereof. In the embodiment shown, the opening and closingof the devices 376 are operable to seal, open or partially close fluidflow pathways to multiple alternative discharge section pipes 380 andthus, provide multiple, or alternative flow pathways. At least onedischarge device (not shown), which can include, but is not limited to,one-way valves, seal, hatches at the outlet, membranes or combinationsthereof, can prevent ocean water 314 from flowing into the dischargepipe 370. If any back-flow pressure starts to build, at least one of theplurality of devices 376, as discussed above, can close and seal off atleast one alternative section of pipe 380 before the back-flow pressurecauses pressure and/or fluid flow starts to flow in the directionopposite flow arrow 371. The system can then open at least onealternative section of pipe 380 to allow continuous flow of thedischarge effluent. Once the at least one of the plurality of devices376 closes, an alternative section of pipe 380, the outlet 378 and/ordischarge device (not shown) can be fully opened to allow the dischargewater in the sealed section of pipe to equalize with the ocean pressure.Alternatively, ports (not shown) on the sidewall of the closed sectionof pipe can open to allow equalization and then the ports and/or outlets380 can close once the water pressure is equalized, as needed. Pumps(not shown) can then pump the discharge fluid out and draw air from thesurface or section of the discharge pipe with little or no fluid.Alternatively, a compressed gas system (not shown) can be installedalong one, or more, of the alternative flow path section of the pipe.

A pipe-in-pipe embodiment could be utilized with the outlet system. Pipein pipe have been used in the oil and gas industry to transportdifferent types of fluid and gasses in one line. Typically, at least oneinterior pipe is paced inside a larger exterior pipe creating at leasttwo separate flow paths. In this design, the interior pipe would handlethe effluent brine and the space between the exterior of the inner pipeand the exterior pipe would be for salt water that is injected into theinner pipe for mixing. Therefore, both the exterior pipe and theinterior pipe would have ports. The exterior pipes would allow the freeflow of sea water and the interior ports would inject the seawater intothe interior pipes to facilitate advantageous mixing as described above.

Control Panel

In one embodiment, a control system is provided with the apparatus toobtain favorable operation and performance of the apparatus. Factors tobe considered for favorable operation of the apparatus and systeminclude, but are not limited to: energy costs, amount, cost and qualityof fresh water and contaminated fluid available, water demand andconsumption, amount of cooling or heating needed by the water,fluctuations in water and energy demands, amount of excess heat, coolingor energy available, design of the equipment, operational conditions ofthe equipment, water temperatures of a plurality of fluid streams,differences between the streams of water, and combinations thereof.

FIG. 26 further shows a schematic of a water purification apparatus andsystem 400 including a control center 401. In one embodiment, thecontrols can be standard manual or even automated controls. However, thepurification system can achieve even greater efficiencies and improvedperformance by using more advanced control systems, which may include asignal capture and data acquisition (“SCADA”) system 402. SCADA is alsoan acronym for supervisory control and data acquisition, a computersystem for gathering and analyzing real time data. SCADA systems areused to monitor and control a plant or equipment in industries such astelecommunications, water and waste control, energy, oil and gasrefining and transportation. A SCADA system gathers information, such assensors or gauges, transfers the information back to a central site,alerting central site of the information, carrying out necessaryanalysis and control, such as determining if the changes areadvantageous or necessary, and displaying the information in a logicaland organized fashion. SCADA systems can be relatively simple, such asone that monitors environmental conditions of a small building, orcomplex, such as a system that monitors all the activity in a nuclearpower plant or the activity of a municipal water system. In addition,recent improvements in computer power and software configurations allowsentire systems to be operated in real time with or without humaninteraction. The real time capabilities allow the control system to makedecisions based on multiple factors and operate the water purificationsystem favorable with little or no operator interaction.

Persons skilled in the art, with the benefit of the disclosure herein,would recognize similar monitoring and/or control systems that can beoperatively connected therewith the disclosed apparatus, and which maythus be used in conjunction with the overall operation of the system400. The SCADA control system 402 which is shown as a computer 421 witha display panel 403, keyboard 404, and wireless router 405, may includeany manner of industrial control systems or other computer controlsystems that monitor and control operation of the system. In oneembodiment, the SCADA system 402 may be configured to provide monitoringand autonomous operation of the system 400.

The SCADA controlled system 402 may be interfaced from any location onthe apparatus, such as from an interface terminal 406. The interfaceterminal can include, cellular or satellite communication equipment, awired or wireless router, servers or traditional wired connections, andany combinations thereof. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 26 , a sensor407 is connected to the interface terminal 406. In an embodiment, theSCADA system including a portion, or all the interface equipment andcontrols can be on an operations section of the apparatus. Additionally,alternatively or as a backup, the SCADA controlled system 402 may beinterfaced remotely, such as via an internet connection that is externalto the apparatus. An internet interface may include a viewer or othercomparable display device, whereby the viewer may display real-timesystem performance data. In other embodiments, the SCADA system 402 maybe able to transfer data to spreadsheet software, such as MicrosoftExcel or to a smart phone or tablet app. The data may be related totemperature, salinity, excess heat or cooling needs, excess energy orco-generations from industrial processes, pressure, flow rate, fluidlevels, and/or other similar operational characteristics of the system400.

The operations of the system 400 may utilize several indicators orsensors, such as cameras including infrared cameras, ultrasonic sensors,sight glasses, liquid floats, temperature gauges or thermocouples,pressure transducers, etc. In addition, the system 400 may includevarious meters, recorders, and other monitoring devices, as would beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Sensors 407, 408, 409, 410411, and 412 are shown in FIG. 8 . These sensors, shown in FIG. 8 , arefor the following, initial feed stream 404, feed stream 442 beforeentering the heat exchanger 416, first purified vapor exit stream 473,second purified vapor exit stream 474, first contaminated fluid output470, second contaminated fluid output 471, respectively shown as 408,409, 410, 411, 412 and 407. Additional sensors can be placed on themetal and mineral removal devices and/or flow lines and storagecontainers for the selectively removing metals and minerals, as neededto obtain favorable metal and mineral removal. These devices may beutilized to measure and record data, such as the quantity and/or qualityof the intake fluids, temperature, the liquid phase(s) in the apparatus,and the vapor or water produced by the system 400.

The SCADA control system 402 may provide an operator or control systemwith real-time information regarding the performance of the apparatus400. Any components, sensors, etc. of the SCADA system 400 may beinterconnected with any other components or sub-components of theapparatus or system 400. As such, the SCADA system 402 can enableon-site and/or remote control of the apparatus 400, and in anembodiment, the SCADA system 402 can be configured to operate withouthuman intervention, such as through automatic actuation of the systemcomponents responsive certain measurements and/or conditions and/or useof passive emergency systems. In another embodiment, the system canoperate in real-time wherein a plurality of factors or all relevantfactors are instantaneously or nearly instantaneously determined andused to calculate the most favorable operations. This real-timeoperation allows all components to be operated in a coordinated mannerbased on variables as received in real time or instantaneously or nearlyinstantaneously.

The system 400 may be configured with devices to measure “HI” and/or“LOW” temperatures, density, pressure or flow rates. The use of suchinformation may be useful as an indication of whether use of additionalheat or a compressor in conjunction with the apparatus is necessary, oras an indication for determining whether the fluid flow rate should beincreased or decreased. Alternatively, the information could be used todetermine which fluid streams would create the most advantageoustemperature differentials for creating water vapor and decide where andwhen to recycle or dispose of each stream. The system 400 may also becoupled with heat, pressure, and liquid level safety shutdown devices,which may be accessible from remote locations, such as the industrialenergy or external heat source (not shown).

The SCADA system 402 may include several subsystems, including manual orelectronic interfaces, such as a human-machine interface (HMI). The HMImay be used to provide process data to an operator, and as such, theoperator may be able to interact with, monitor, and control theapparatus 400. In addition, the SCADA system 402 may include a master orsupervisory computer system such as, a server or networked computersystem, configured to gather and acquire system data, and to send andreceive control instructions, independent of human interaction such asreal time, as described below. A communication device or port or remoteterminal (“RT”) may also be operably connected with various sensors. Inan embodiment, the RT may be used to convert sensor data to digitaldata, and then transmit the digital data to the computer system. Assuch, there may be a communication connection between the supervisorysystem to the RT's. Programmable logic controllers (“PLC”) may also beused to create a favorable control system. In FIG. 8 , the RT and PLCwould most likely, but would not necessarily, be in the interfaceterminal 406

Data acquisition of the system may be initiated at the RT and/or PLClevel, and may include, for example, gauges or meter readings such as,temperature, pressure, density, equipment status reports, etc., whichmay be communicated to the SCADA 402, as requested or required. Therequested and/or acquired data may then be compiled and formatted insuch a way that an operator using the HMI may be able to make commanddecisions to effectively run the apparatus or system 400 at greatefficiency and optimization. This compilation and formatting of data canbe used to enable real-time operations, as discussed below.

In an embodiment, all operations of the system 400 may be monitored viacontrol system 401 or in a control room within the operations section450. In an embodiment, the operations section 450 may be mounted on theneck of a trailer. Alternatively, or additionally, the system 400 can beoperable remotely and/or automatically.

In one embodiment, the entire operations section of the apparatus canfit on a mobile skid usable within the scope of the present disclosure.Specifically, all equipment including the SCADA control system 402 canbe located on a single skid such as, a mobile trailer or modified truck.

Various embodiments of system 400 can include various separators. Forexample, an initial two- or three-phase separator (if vapors need to beremoved) 420 is shown, which can be configured to receive an inputstream 404 (for example, a contaminated water stream) which can be at ahigh-pressure using pumps or pressure or gravity to create efficiency.The separator 420 can be used to receive one or more streams 430 fromthe input stream 404 provided by source 435 to remove solidcontaminates, which is removed from the process using devices known inthe art such as, a dump valve 415. The separator 420 can then designedto selectively remove metals and minerals, as describe below or send theseparated solids to additional equipment (not shown) for metal andmineral removal, as described below.

Excess heat or multiple streams of water with differential temperaturescan be introduced into the heat exchanger 416 through inlet 481. Asdescribed above, in the heat exchanger, at least a portion of thepurified water is removed from the contaminated water. This removal isdone in the heat exchanger by using density differences between thepurified water vapor created and the heavier contaminated fluid. FIG. 26shows a first contaminated fluid exit stream 470 and a secondcontaminated fluid exit stream 471 exiting heat exchanger 416 throughoutlets 491 and 493 respectively. The contaminated fluid streams 470 and471 that exit outlets 491 and 493 are then combined with contaminatedfluid line 480. Alternatively, valves or similar devices 560 can recyclethe contaminated water through the line heater 460 and/or heat exchanger416 to obtain favorable operating conditions through heat exchanger 416.Using a plurality of flow paths and/or internal condensation sections,the purified water is removed using a first purified water dischargestream 473 through outlet 490 and a second purified water dischargestream 446 through outlet 494.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 26 , the first purified water dischargestream 473 through outlet 490 is sent to purified combined line 485.Valves 560 control the flow direction of first purified water dischargestream 473 and whether first purified water flow stream is recycled 474through the heat exchanger 416 through inlet 481 to transfer heat energyto heat exchanger 412 and then exits through outlet 495 as purifiedwater 447 through outlet 495. An additional or a plurality of recyclinglines, of at least two or more, can be engineered into the heatexchanger 412 and/or adding additional heat exchangers (not shown) thatcan be used in series or parallel. The additional recycling lines andheat exchangers permit additional recycling options and heat transferoptions. Persons skilled in the art, with the benefit of the disclosuresherein would know how to engineer the additional lines to achievefavorable results.

As discussed above, both the purified water streams and contaminatedwater streams can be recycled though the heat exchanger 416 to obtainfavorable conditions including water temperature differentials to createwater vapor. In addition, pressure differences of the water, or otherfluids flowing to and/or from the apparatus can be used to favorablymove the water and vapor with little or no use of pumps. Purified waterseparated from flow streams within the system 400 can be transportedand/or released from the heat exchanger 416 using one or a plurality ofmore purified water or vapor outlet ports such as, 490, 494 and 495 forexiting purified streams 473, 446 and 447 respectively. Similarly,purified water, stream 485 can be flowed into or from the system 400and/or otherwise controlled using a water valve or ports 560, andcontaminated fluid streams 480 can be flowed into or from the system 400using one or a plurality of valves or port 560. The contaminated fluidstream can then eb sent for metal and mineral removal. As describedpreviously, both the contaminated streams and purified water streams canbe flowed from the system 400 into tanks, header lines, sales lines, orsimilar vessels and/or conduits which are not shown but easilyunderstood in the art.

An embodiment of the system 400 is also shown including a filter orsolid separator 431, such as, a sand separator, which can be used toseparate solids (e.g., sand and/or other entrained particles) from oneor more flow streams within the system 400. Separated sand and/or othersolids and/or slurries can be removed from the system via an exit suchas, a dump port 426 and sent to contaminated stream 480. Alternatively,an electrocoagulation or biological system can replace solid separator431. In this embodiment, solids are removed before the fluids aresubject to heat energy to efficiently use the heat energy to createvapor.

In FIG. 26 , a fluid purification apparatus is shown including a lineheater 460, usable to heat flow streams received from the firstthree-phase separator 420 and/or other recycled streams within thesystem 400, and a purified water and waste fluid discharges and relatedequipment for use of processing, measuring, and removing from theapparatus one or more flow streams. The line heater can be attached to aheat recovery device and the pumps can be attached to one or more ERDdevices.

The SCADA system would also be connected to sensors on the wellhead andenergy recovery devices to effectively run the pumps powering themembrane filtration and reverse osmosis membranes and other equipment.This SCADA could manage the available pressure and temperature andequipment to most efficiently purify the water.

The depicted embodiment is merely exemplary, and that various types andquantities of separators and other components can be connected, asneeded, to effectively separate and process a desired input stream, andprovided with any manner of gauges and/or other measurement devices.

Synergy with Alternative Energy Sources

Many alternative energy sources have the problem of not providingconsistent energy production or the ability to manage energy productionefficiently. This process, using a control system or the SCADA systemdescribed above can fix the problem by providing efficient energyproduction by combining the water generation with other alternativeenergies. For example, wind power only provides power during significantwind and solar power provides only energy during sunlight.

Combining the water production during excess power or heat consumptionusing alternative energy such, as wind, solar, geothermal, organicmatter, hydroelectric, wave energy, or battery or other heat or energystorage systems, could make alternative energy more cost effective withother energy sources. Many of the heat exchanger described herein areagnostic on the energy source and can be run on solar and solar thermalenergy.

Single-Skid Embodiment

Now referring to FIG. 26 , in one embodiment, at least one separator,heat source, such as, excess heat, line heater, heat exchangers, and allconduits necessary to interconnect these components, as well as each ofthe external valves and/or ports that provide discharge of waste fluid480 and removal of purified water (485, 446, and 447), can be providedon a single mobile member 450, such as, a movable trailer. SCADAmonitoring devices such as sensors, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, and 412 arealso shown in association with various system components; however,control and/or monitoring devices can be provided in association withany portion of the system 400 and can be controlled on-site, such asthrough use of controls within the operations section 450. In FIG. 26 ,the controls are shown as a remote computer 401 but can be a cabin areawithin the movable trailer having solar panels thereon, remotely (suchas, cellular satellite, or internet interface), and/or automatically,such as through use of automated controls that operate responsive topredetermined conditions, coupled with emergency systems toautomatically cease operation of certain components if needed.

Embodiments disclosed herein thereby include systems and methods forperforming a purification process, that require only a single mobilemember, having most or all the equipment necessary for the separationprocess operably interconnected upon arrival. As such, assembly orrig-up and disassembly or de-rig times for the present system can be farless than conventional systems, which can require a full day or longerto assemble. Embodiments described herein can be assembled and used in50%, 75%, and 90% less time than that required to rig up a conventionalsystem. Further, the transportation time and costs associated with asingle-skid unit are drastically reduced when compared with thoseassociated with conventional fluid purification systems.

Modeling Embodiment

In one embodiment the control system or SCADA system could be used torun fluid modeling on a water processing, water purification or metaland minerals removal apparatus or even test a model for changes orimprovements in the system or operating conditions. This model couldinvolve several steps: 1) Run the system using normal operations or haveSCADA record operational conditions during regular operations; 2) Runfluid modeling and heat transfer modeling software to determine whichdesigns works best; 3) Adjust parameters such as heat, pressure andthroughput to achieve the best efficiencies; 4) Model various processusing known adjustment variables to display the best possible parametersfor the entire process; and 5) adjust the variables such as energy andfluid flow and final density of the brine or type of metals or mineralsto be removed to get the best operational results or efficiencies. Inaddition, designs can be tweaked to adjust tubing sizes and openingsbased on the modelling

Transportation Efficiency Embodiment

Embodiments disclosed herein may beneficially provide industrial heatprocesses, or water processing, or metal and mineral removal processes.The ability to use a single-skid unit that does not require a series oftrailers or trucks to be connected on location. This provides a safersystem by minimizing piping between high-pressure equipment. Additionalbenefits include purified water and waste water may be readily measured,and fluids may be separated more efficiently and accurately. The singleskid mobile unit may be cost-effectively deployed and may provide allnecessary unit operations to purify water on a single unit, whichprovides an advantage over the use of multiple units, skids or train oftrucks at a work site. Reduced transport efficiencies includingreduction in rail, water and truck traffic can reduce the costs oftransportation including reduced energy including fuel consumption,reduced accidental discharges, as well as reduced wear and tear onhighways and local roads. In one embodiment, the entire system can beengineered to fit into a single container unit that can be easilytransported, via ship, rail, or truck. In another embodiment, the uniton a skid can be engineered to fit inside a container for quicktransport.

Container Embodiment

In various embodiments, a heat source can be coupled with the heatexchanger to form a transportable device along with metal and removalprocesses and ERD, if feasible. The heat source could be a generator orother mean such as, an alternative energy device. The generator could bechosen from the group consisting of diesel generators, natural gasgenerators, gasoline generators, propane generators, alternative energygenerators, and any combinations thereof. The generator could be used tocreate heat and run the pumps and any pre- or post-treatment processes,as necessary. In this embodiment, a water line would be connected to thewater source to be purified. An electrical current could power the heatsource, or a gasoline, natural gas or diesel generator could beconnected to existing gasoline, natural gas or diesel lines respectivelyor can be run by solar. A storage tank on the skid could provide alimited supply of diesel or alternatively a large storage device couldhouse fuel including but not limited to propane, diesel, natural gas andgasoline. The device would have at least one purified water line and atleast one contaminates line as well and an output line for electricity.The generated electricity could be used to power additional equipment orbe sent into the power grid.

As discussed above, this single skid embodiment would be useful fordisaster relief as the entire skid could be transported by truck, railor ship quickly to provide water and power until power and water isrestored. This embodiment is shown by FIG. 27 . In this embodiment, adiesel generator 260 is placed inside a shipping container 261 with afuel tank 262 and inlet 264 for connection to a diesel fuel line. Theexhaust is sent through exhaust pipe 265. The fluid from the radiator ofthe generator 260 is sent as fluid stream 263 through the heat exchanger266. Contaminated water line 267 is connected to the skid through port268 and the contaminated water is flowed through heat exchange 266. Asdiscussed above, the contaminated water stream 267 is separated intopurified stream 268 and contaminated stream 269 by exiting through ports270 and 271 respectively. Pumps (or vapor compression devices) 272 canassist in flowing the fluid, as needed.

Vapor compression and/or extraction equipment could be attached to theoutlets of the units to make the process more efficient. Other optionsinclude pumps at the inlets to improve efficiency. The vapor extractionpumps would most likely be designed to be outside the heat exchanger andskid equipment. However, if space was an issue vapor extraction andpumps could be engineered to be inside the skid and/or the heatexchanger.

In alternative embodiments, the heated exhaust line 265 could also bediverted to a second heat exchanger (not shown). The second heatexchanger can have one or more contaminated water lines going into theheat exchange and could insert the heat energy as a gas or as liquiddepending on the cooling and exhaust systems of the generator. Asdiscussed above, the heat exchanger then outputs at least one purifiedwater component, and at least one contaminated line. It may bepreferable to output the contaminated lines in several streams to removethe contaminates during multiple points inside the heat exchanger, asneeded, to keep the system efficient. A control panel 272 system couldbe on the skid or in a cabin or remotely to runs the skid efficiently,as discussed previously. Furthermore, a plurality of skids could be runby one control panel to operate the skids in the most efficient manner,as discussed below.

Power connector 274 provides power to the control panel 273, generator263 and other equipment on skid 261, when the system is not producingpower. Power connector 275 can output power to other devices or theelectrical grid when the generator 260 is producing power. Duringnon-peak power demand, the control panel 274 could shut off one or moreskids or reduce output, as needed. In one embodiment, the generatorcould be a variable power generator that can produce more heat to theheat exchanger for water purification instead of electricity, as demandis needed.

This system could provide emergency power and water resources tocommunities, in need. In addition, factories that have no longer accessto water and power could be run by this container or skid system untilthe power and water is restored. Many factories, hospitals and schooland other important buildings have emergency power through generators.This system can be combined with industrial emergency generators to alsoprovide water in emergencies.

Ship Embodiment

Heat exchangers and water desalination equipment is typically requiredfor most large ships including cargo ships, cruise ships and mostsurface naval ships and submarines. Typically, fresh-water is used in aclosed circuit to cool down the engine room machineries. The fresh-waterreturning from the heat exchanger after cooling the machineries isusually cooled by sea water in a sea water cooler.

FIG. 28 is a schematic of a ship desalination embodiment of thisinvention. As shown in FIG. 12 , a ship engine 300 is cooled by waterfrom line 301. The water used for cooling exits the ship engine 300through water line 302 and enters heat exchanger 303 and heats saltwater line 304 (typically from the ocean). Salt water from line 304 isthen separated in heat exchanger 303 into purified water line 305 andcontaminated water line 306 by exiting fluid ports 307 and 308respectively. Contaminated water line 306 is then treated and/orreleased back into the water. Purified water line 305 is then condensedinto drinking water in condenser 3108 which can also includepost-treatment steps to make it potable and a portion can be sent tocontaminated line 306 to concentrate or dilute the brine concentration,as necessary prior to putting it into the supply chain as brine fluid ordischarge.

Alternatively, or in addition, a reverse osmosis unit can be added witha corresponding pressure recapture system could be added. In thisembodiment, the pressure

Additional Embodiments

As discussed above, embodiments disclosed herein can also provide forcontinuous, real-time monitoring, enabling efficient control of thepurification from an on-site location and/or a remote location. Thesystem can also be configured for autonomous, unmanned operation,providing a significant savings in cost and manpower. In anotherembodiment, the system can be coupled with electrical generators toprovide purified water in disaster relief operations, or militaryoperations where electricity and water is needed in emergency or remotesituations. In one embodiment, the generator can be on one mobile skidand attached to a second mobile skid to provide water purificationincluding pumps for pumping contaminated fluids and removing wastefluids and purified water. In addition, the mobile skid embodiment canbe brought to areas with severe water demand or water drought conditionsto help run industrial processes during peak demand or water scarcitytimes. Otherwise, human demand might override industrial water usage andrequire shutdown of industrial processes versus just adding a singletrailer or system to purify at least a portion of the water usage or allthe water usage depending on the situation. Therefore, this systemprovides capabilities not currently available for operators ofindustrial processes, drilling operations, military operations duringwater droughts, natural and man-made disasters and other emergencies.

Vapor-Compression Evaporation System

Vapor-compression evaporation comprises an evaporation method. Theapparatus can comprise a blower, compressor or jet ejector utilized tocompress, and thus, increase the pressure of the vapor produced. Thepressure increase of the vapor also generates an increase in thecondensation temperature. The same vapor can serve as the heating mediumfor the liquid or solution being concentrated (“contaminated fluid” of“mother fluid”) from which the vapor was generated to begin with. If nocompression was provided, the vapor would be approximately the sametemperature as the boiling liquid/solution, and thus, no heat transfertakes place. If compression is performed by a mechanically drivencompressor or blower, this evaporation process is referred to as MVR(Mechanical Vapor Recompression) and if compression performed by highpressure motive steam ejectors, the process is sometimes calledThermo-compression or Steam Compression which requires the use of asteam ejector.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,708,665 and 7,251,944 describe vapor compressionextraction methods and systems. Both U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,708,665 and7,251,944 are hereby incorporated by reference.

The inventive concepts, discussed above, including but not limited tousing multiple flow paths to allow gravity to separate the purifiedvapor and/or using the internal components of a heat exchanger to servethe function as a flash chamber can be applied to vapor compressionssystems to produce water. A vapor-compression evaporation system,comprising a plurality of heat exchangers in series each containing afeed having a nonvolatile component; at least one heat exchangercomprising a plurality of flow paths wherein gravity differencesseparates the heavier contaminated fluid from the lighter purified watervapor; a mechanical compressor coupled to the last vessel in the seriesand operable to receive a vapor from the last vessel in the series; apump operable to deliver a cooling liquid to the mechanical compressor;a tank coupled to the mechanical compressor and operable to separateliquid and vapor received from the mechanical compressor; a plurality ofvessels inside respective vessels, the vessel in the first heatexchanger in the series operable to receive the vapor from the heatexchanger, at least some of the vapor condensing therein, whereby theheat of condensation provides the heat of evaporation to the first heatexchanger in the series; wherein at least some of the vapor inside thefirst vessel in the series is delivered to the heat exchanger in thenext vessel in the series, whereby the condensing, evaporating, anddelivering steps continue until the last vessel in the series isreached. In one embodiment, the system further comprises a multi-effector a multi-stage flash evaporator coupled to the last heat exchanger inthe series for additional evaporation of the feed or alternativelyinside the heat exchangers.

Pipeline

Preferably, a water pipeline would connect the purification ordesalination unit to either the source or end user. Depending on theelevation, the pipeline may not need pumps and can rely solely onelevation gravity.

Ship Embodiment

While the embodiments have been primarily described for onshore, theembodiments could be modified to be used on any ship or platform toallow for easy installation and removal of the plant to any locations.The ship containing the desalination plant in containers could beanchored or moored to a designated location and support ships can beinstall the inlet and outlet device embodiments to the ship once moored.

Offshore Oil and Gas Embodiments

In the past, oil and gas used salt-water to flood and pressurizereservoirs. Salt water can cause numerous problems with the undergroundreservoir. These problems include increased microbes, fouling, chemicalreactions, scaling, and lowering reservoir permeability. Solutions tosalt water flooding includes using freshwater and chemical treatments.Freshwater is not always readily available and chemical treatments areexpensive and have environmental issues. An embodiment would use part ofthe produced water for offshore water production by piping the water tothe injection wells. This can be accomplished by using existing subseapipelines and risers as well as laying new pipelines or risers to theinjection wells. When salt water flooding is not an issue, salt-watereffluent can be piped into the injection wells or non-producing wells.This can occur when a reservoir section is completely depleted or whenseveral injection wells are used the inner wells closest to thereservoir can use fresh water and the exterior wells further away fromthe producing reservoir can use salt-water or effluent brine. Thisembodiment would keep fresh water between the producing reservoir andthe salt water that is being injected to help pressurize the wellborewithout causing adverse salt-water issues in the producing reservoir.Accordingly, a desalination platform could be placed advantageously nearoffshore oil and gas activity and the desalination platform could helpprovide the fresh water needs of the personal and onboard equipment aswell as provide the fresh-water and salt-water drilling, completions,flooding and injection needs of the subsea wells. The supply ships canbe used to supply both the oil and gas platforms as well as thedesalination platforms on each supply trip to cut down costs. Inaddition, electrical lines run to the platforms could be shared or usedas backups to further improve efficiency and redundancy.

Carbon Fiber Tubing

Composite materials such as, carbon fiber can be used to lower the costand make the effluent piping more affordable and easier to modify withinlets. The composite consists of two parts: a matrix and areinforcement. In CFRP the reinforcement is carbon fiber, which providesthe strength. The matrix is usually a polymer resin, such as epoxy, tobind the reinforcements together, the material properties depend onthese two elements. Recent advantages in manufacturing have reduced thecosts to produce carbon fiber tubing and are advantageous for theoffshore environment by providing high strength-to-weight and rigidity.

Liners, including carbon fiber liners, have been utilized to internallyline old pipes resulting in a fully structural strengthening system.Inside an older pipe, the carbon fiber liner acts as a barrier thatcontrols the level of strain experienced by the steel cylinder in thehost pipe. The composite liner enables the steel cylinder to performwithin its elastic range, to ensure the pipeline's long-term performanceis maintained. Carbon fiber designs are based on strain compatibilitybetween the liner and host pipe. Using liners such as, carbon fiberliners, older gas, oil and water pipelines could be recommissioned tohandle both fresh water and effluent brine discharge.

Land Embodiment

Several embodiments discussed above have mainly been described foroffshore desalination plants. While offshore has advantageous fordesalination that are described above, there are certain regions thatneed desalination including reverse osmosis and distillation processesthat are not adjacent near coastlines to allow for offshoredesalination. In these situations, most of the embodiments describedherein can be used to create a favorable land-based desalination plant.

For example, the containerization and robotic automation can quicklyallow for any warehouse to be turned into a fully functioningdesalination plant. The containers will allow for easy transportationand delivery by rail or truck service to any land-based desalinationplant. Standardized containers would allow one manufacturing plant toproduce containers for both onshore and offshore desalination plants.This would permit a design one and build many to utilize economies ofscale by reducing design and capital costs of the plants. Anymalfunctioning equipment can be removed and easily replaced and sent tobe repaired at a designated repair facility thus reducing the number ofpersonal to reduce operating costs.

The robotic container system would quickly install and remove theequipment inside a plant reducing time and cost for any maintenance orrepairs. The control system would further reduce plant personnel byallowing a single operator or a remote operator to control the entireplant using automated remote controls.

The inlet system can be a wellbore drilled into a brackish or saltwateraquifer. The initial filtrations could be existing well screens employedin traditional oil, gas and water well operations.

The discharge system could be modified to run into a discharge wellboredrilled into the subterranean earth using the discharge system andembodiments to mix the discharge inside a wellbore. For example, theinlets could be designed to be on the wellhead directly above thewellbore to mix the discharge water as it enters the discharge wellbore.

Example

Hypothetical examples are disclosed below to illustrate the invention.Persons skilled in the art will recognize many different variations ofthese hypotheticals based on the disclosure in this document and knownprior art. All variations are intended to be within the scope of thisinvention. Therefore, the examples disclosed are not intended to limitthe scope of the claims.

FIG. 19 illustrates the steps of one embodiment. The first step is toobtain the apparatus such as, a heat exchanger and energy recoverydevice which is attached to a wellbore 191. In one embodiment, theapparatus has at least one inlet and at least two outlets connected toan energy source that can concentrate energy on a contaminated fluid.The second step is to flow the well production fluids including theproduced water through the energy recovery device and the apparatus 192.The third step is to use the energy source on the produced water 193.This causes at least a portion of the contaminated water to change intoa purified vapor state inside the apparatus. The fourth step is to usemultiples flow paths inside the apparatus 194. The effects of gravityseparate at least a portion of the heavier contaminated fluid from thelighter purified vapor state. The fifth step is to measure the density195. The sixth step is to remove the purified vapor and contaminatedfluids once a desired density is achieved 196. This step can beaccomplished by flowing the purified vapor state through a first outletand flowing the contaminated fluid after a portion of fluid has beenremoved as a purified vapor state through a second outlet of theapparatus.

In this hypothetical example, salt water with 30 g/l of NaCl with aboiling point of 105° C. is pumped into the heat exchanger which isheated by excess gas from a heat recovery for steam generation system(“HRSG”). The heated gas is flowed in and out of the heat exchanger toprovide the energy to boil the salt water. The salt water is pumped intothe heat exchanger and is heated by the hot air gas from the HRSG. Oncethe salt water obtains a temperature of 105° C. the salt water begins toboil into a purified vapor or steam. The purified steam rises in theheat exchanger as it is lighter than the salt water. The slanted bafflesinside the heat exchanger cause the purified steam to collect inchambers formed by the slanted baffles. Pressure from additional steamcreation pushes the steam further up into the next chamber formed byanother slanted baffle.

Any heavier contaminated water caught in the vapor flows down throughthe hole back into the initial salt water feed stream. The water flowingdown has a separate flow path from the rising steam to reduce frictionand prevent contamination of the purified rising steam. The flowingwater also collects contaminates that have participated out from thesalt water. The salt water with the removed purified vapor componentthen exits from the first outlet. This heated salt water with a higherconcentration of salt can be used to pre-warm feed salt water with apre-warmer heat exchanger before it enters the heat exchanger forpurification to increase efficiency.

After the purified steam has reached the maximum level in the heatexchanger it exits the heat exchanger. The purified steam can then beused for further work such as steam turbine generation or can be runthrough additional prior art heat exchangers to efficiently increaseheat energy and pressure to further add energy before using the steam.Alternatively, the vapor can be directly cooled and condensed into freshwater. To further improve the efficiency and lower the boilingtemperature a pump is connected to the second outlet which lowers thepressure in the upper part of the heat exchanger. Pumps can be used tohelp remove the purified vapor creating a pressure less than 1 barinside the heat exchanger which lowers the boiling point of thesaltwater, reduces scaling and makes the process more efficient.

In a more preferred embodiment, the pressure is lower on the top of theheat exchanger to quickly remove the steam from the water. In addition,pump(s) can be attached to the first outlet to quickly pump the waterout. The best efficiencies occur when the pressure at the top of theheat exchanger is kept below atmospheric pressure of less than 1 bar(more preferably less than 0.8 bar and most preferably, less than 0.5bar bar) and the flow rate of the water is high enough to quickly removewater once the brine reaches the preferred density to prevent theboiling point from increasing too much because of the increasedconcentration of salt. This also reduces scaling. If scaling becomes aproblem, purified water is run through the system to remove thecontaminates and scaling. Running purified water allows the equipment tobe cleaned of scaling without stopping the production of steam.

FIG. 29 is a process flow diagram for a sample system being proposed atthe wellsite. As shown in the FIG. 29 process flow diagram, the X-VAP™purification system 800 can be connected to produced water 811 and flaregas lines 812 at a wellhead 801 for an energy mass/balance equationbased on an oilfield scenario provided by a major oil Corporation. Thatscenario required taking 100,000 ppm TDS contaminated produced water inline 801 and purifying the water to a level where the brine concentratebecomes 260,000 ppm TDS. Feed tanks 803 are sued to store the producedwater, brine and purified water, as shown. The produced water 801 issent through a pre-treatment system 809, and then a pre warmer 806 andsent to purification system 800 for thermal distillation. Metals andminerals removed form pre-treatment 808 and can be sent for furtherprocessing to selectively remove metals in minerals in 810. Vapor orpurified water from purification system 800 is removed in line 805 andsent through the pre-warmer 806 and stored in feed tank 803. The brine804 is collected and is suitable to be sold as a 10-lb drilling salt.Certain application will require a higher or lower density and theprocess can be adjusted to meet or at least come substantially close(such as, within preferably 20 percent and more preferably within 10percent) to the density requirements at the drilling site.

After the system purifies water thermally, the system can then be usedto purify water using reverse osmosis membranes. This would allowefficient purification without the issue of scaling found in high saltthermal distillation.

This invention can be used in just about any heat exchanger or similarapplication. Such applications include but are not limited to spaceheating, refrigeration, air conditioning, power plants, chemical plants,petrochemical plants, petroleum refineries, natural gas processing, andsewage treatment. The foregoing description of preferred and otherembodiments is not intended to limit or restrict the scope orapplicability of the inventive concepts conceived of by the applicants.In exchange for disclosing the inventive concepts contained herein, theapplicants desire all patent rights afforded by the appended claims.Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims include allmodifications and alterations to the full extent that they come withinthe scope of the following claims or the equivalents thereof. Example ToExtract and remove metals and minerals form wellsite produced water

As shown in the FIG. 31 process flow diagram, the X-VAP™ purificationsystem can be connected to produced water and gas lines at a wellheadfor an energy mass/balance equation based on an oilfield scenarioprovided by a Major oil company. For the pre-treatment or pre-filteringstep the process can utilize electrocoagulation by partnering with NPindustries and using their PRRO WATER technology, but other similartechnology can be utilized. The electrocoagulation pre-filtering stepwill remove solids, hydrocarbons, volatiles and metals.

A scenario provided by a major oil company requires taking 250,000 ppmTDS contaminated produced water and purifying the water to a level wherethe brine concentrate becomes 260,000 ppm TDS which is the standarddensity used for salt-based drilling fluids.

FIG. 30 shows an alternative embodiment to FIG. 29 , with additionalprocessing wherein like numerals are given the same reference numerals.Referencing FIG. 30 , the produced water is run through an electricalcoagulation prefiltering step 808 can then be sent for chemicalprecipitation 814 including rare earth metal separation 81 and finallysent for resale in step 816. The brine removed in step 804 can then besent for chemical precipitation in step 817 to selectively remove the Caand Mg. The Ca and Mg can then be sold for industrial reuse includingchemical additives to create specific density drilling fluids (notshown). After chemical precipitation to remove Ca and Mg, and additionalstep can be removal of lithium in step 818. The brine can then undergoin step 818, selective lithium adsorption using a graphene filter. Lican be removed using CaCO3 through chemical precipitation as shown instep 820 and the Ca and lithium removed for sale in process step 821.The remaining pure brine from step 818 can be removed and sold, as shownin line 819.

In one embodiment we use standard electrical coagulation and chemicalprecipitation, preferably without their biocide process of usingchlorine dioxide, since the microbial activity will be curtailed throughthermal distillation.

Produced water Streams 1 and 2 will have the following chemicalproperties after the electrical coagulation and chemical precipitationpretreatment step.

Volume Range 863 m3/d (5,400 bls) 73 m3/d (450 bls) ComponentConcentrations (mg/L) (mg/L) Dissolved Solids 180,000 223,200 TotalDissolved Chloride 105,000 133,000 pH 10.5 10.5 Calcium 26.4 512Magnesium 4.76 11.56 Potassium 2212 4108 Sodium 54458 40880 Strontium 12288 Barium 62 110 Lithium 76 114 Iron 1 <1

Energy Calculations: for stream 1, the heat energy required forevaporation are provided below: Assuming a feed water flow rate (Qf)−10kg/s=22 lb/s=79,200 lb/hr=˜5,400 barrels per day with ˜837 barrelsevaporated (24,552 lb/hr) or 31% evaporated.

The following constants and condition are utilized: Specific heat (Cp)for water=0.998 BTU/lb-° F., Latent heat of water (hf)=970.4 BTU/lb,Feed water Inlet temperature (T1)=333° K=140° F.−Post pre-warmer, Vaporoutlet temperature (T2)=433° K=320° F.: X-Vap™ purificationΔT=320° F.−140° F.=180° F.: evaporated water ΔT=212° F.−140° F.=72° F.:Non-evaporated water; Finned Tube Heat Exchanger heat transferefficiency rate of 80 percentTherefore, heat required is: Energy=m*cp*(T2−T1)+m*hfEnergy=(24552 lb/hr×0.998 BTU/lb° F.×180° F.)+(54648 lb/hr×0.998 BTU/lb°F.×72° F.)+(24,552 lb/hr×970.4 BTU/lb)Energy=4,410,521 BTU/Hr+3,926,787 BTU/Hr+23,825,261 BTU/hr=32,162,569BTU/hr=1,546.83 ft³/hrEnergy=580,143,572 BTU/Day==580 MMBTU/DayApproximately 580 MM BTUs of natural gas is required to evaporate therequested solution of concentrating 180,000 ppm TDS produced water—afterpre-treatment step to 260,000 ppm TDS concentrated brine with athroughput of 5400 barrels per day. The energy cost per barrel isapproximately $0.16 per barrel of throughput, assuming an average HenryHub price of —$3 and a well site wholesale value of half the Henry Hubprice. The initial temperature of 140° F. is a relatively low number aswellhead temperatures are typically close to 200° F. and are rarely lessthan 150° F. even after filtering at the wellhead. Typically, thewellsite price is substantially less than $1 and therefore, significantnatural gas price fluctuations of up to 100% increases can beaccommodated because of the efficient heat transfer of the heatexchanger versus using a traditional wellsite generator. This is a worsecase energy usage scenario as the process can recapture additionalenergy from the system, through additional fluid flow pre-warmer heatexchangers.

In common scenarios wherein, natural gas is wasted such as, reinjectedinto the wellbore, the gas cost can be free or a net cost reduction,which would further improve the costs projected above. Considering thecost savings from wastewater disposal volume reduction and source wateracquisition costs, the X-Vap™ purification equipment and system providesa significant savings for most oil and gas field operations. The largerevenue stream from selling the brine discharge as drilling fluidpermits a profitable business model even if market conditions change andthere is a loss on the proposed onsite water handling service fee. Theability to use purified brine as a drilling fluid has been validatedduring customer discovery with the brine suppliers and drilling fluidservice providers.

Concentrate Calculations: The recovery rate of the feed water willdecide how concentrated the final solution is. The Recovery Ratio R isdefined as:

$R = {\frac{Q_{P}}{Q_{F}} = \frac{Q_{P}}{Q_{C} + Q_{P}}}$Wherein: Q_(P)=Evaporate flow rate, Q_(F)=Produced water/Feed flow rate,and Q_(C)=Brine concentrate flow rate The TDS of feed and TDS of Brineconcentrate are related to Recovery rate by the following equation:

${TDS}_{concentrate} = {{TDS}_{feed}\left( \frac{1}{1 - R} \right)}$

Now, for the given conditions of stream 1, after the pretreatmentprocess, which is TDS feed=180,000 and TDS Concentrate=260,000, thecalculations obtain, R=0.31. Therefore, it is required to maintainrecovery factor of 0.31 to convert feed water of TDS 180,000 ppm to260,000 ppm. This can be achieved by maintaining the brine condensateflow rate and evaporate flow rate to 38% of the feed flow rate.

$R = {\frac{Q_{P}}{Q_{F}} = \frac{Q_{P}}{Q_{C} + Q_{F}}}$

The system needs to maintain these three flow rates at a given recoveryratio to achieve the optimum TDS brine concentration of the producedwater to create drilling fluid. Different TDS concentrations can also beobtained by controlling the gas rates in relation to the flow rates. Anadditional level of control can be added to this system using aconductivity measurement. There is a linear relation between TDS andconductivity, it is defined as:TDS (ppm)=0.7×Conductivity (μs/cm)

Initial System Modeling Results: The bottom discharge valve on theX-VAP™ purification unit can be activated upon reaching the desiredconductivity relative to the required TDS. Therefore, the system will beoptimized to control the water feed rate and gas rate into the X-VAP™purification to efficiently achieve the desired concentration to achievefavorable drilling fluids and completion fluids. A controller can beadded to adjust the parameters based on operational requirements. Thiscontroller can be integrated into existing SCADA systems. Total flowrate can be increased by adding additional units connected on a skid.

Metal Removal Post Treatment: This proof of concept will test severalpost treatment steps to selectively remove valuable metals includinglithium, cobalt, nickel and heavy metals. These steps include lithiumabsorption and nanofiltration along with chemical precipitation.

Markets will be researched in North America to show the economic valueof the removed components to create based on the removal costs. The keyto making the process economical will be performing the entire processonsite to avoid transportation costs. This will create a new circulareconomy at the wellsite.

The rare earth elements (REE) are a set of seventeen metallic elements.These include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic table plusscandium and yttrium. Rare earth elements are an essential part of manyhigh-tech devices. We have discovered that REE can be present in traceamounts in produced water. In one study, inexpensive nano-Mg(OH)2particles were used to precipitate the rare earth elements and byadjusting the solution Ph. See Chaoran Li, Zanyong Zhuang, Feng Huang,Zhicheng Wu, Yangping Hong, and Zhang LinRecycling Rare Earth Elementsfrom Industrial Wastewater with Flowerlike Nano-Mg(OH)2 and thisreference is hereby incorporated by reference Other technologies forseparating rare earth elements include adsorption, ion exchange, solventextraction, magnetic separation and engineered microbes. See Smith, Y.R.; Kumar, P.; McLennan, J. D. On the Extraction of Rare Earth Elementsfrom Geothermal Brines. Resources 2017, 6, 39. This reference is herebyincorporated by reference Ion exchange is known to create 99.999 percentpure rare earth separation. Processes from rare earth producers can bemodified to create an onsite system that achieves commercially pure rareearth element onsite. Five of the rare earth elements in 2018 had listedprices between $100,000 to $440,000 per metric ton. Any significantremoval of these rare earth elements will be an economic gamechangerwith regards to making onsite water purification practical.

The electrical coagulation is extremely effective in removing manyvaluable metals including aluminum, chromium, iron, nickel plutonian anduranium with removal rates of over 99 percent. In addition,approximately 90 percent of cobalt is removed. Other valuable moleculessuch as, silicon and phosphates are removed. We intend to work oncreating an onsite chemical precipitation to remove various elements andthen partner with a metal recycler to remove the remaining metals in theelectrical coagulation discharge sludge. The goal is to selectivelyremove and separate onsite as many elements as possible to reduce theoverall transportation and disposal costs and create the circulareconomy which drives down processing costs.

Lithium Recovery

A recently published study demonstrates a two-stage solvent extractiontechnique for lithium recovery from shale gas produced water and usingan extraction mechanism of ions in each stage can effectively removelithium. See Nye, Charles, Quillinan, Scott Austin, Neupane, Ghanashyam,and McLing, Travis. Aqueous Rare Earth Element Patterns andConcentration in Thermal Brines Associated With Oil and Gas Production.United States: N. p., 2017. Web. This reference is hereby incorporatedby reference. In the first-stage, more than 94% of the divalent cationsincluding Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr2+, and Ba2+ ions were removed by using achelating agent of 1.0 M di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) asan extractant. In the second-stage, over 40% of the lithium wasrecovered using 1.5 M D2EHPA and 0.3 M tributyl phosphate (TBP). Lithiumloss in the first-stage was 25.1%, and therefore, the total amount oflithium recovered at the end of the two-step extraction procedure wasover 30. By removing over 90% of the Ca and Mg during theelectrocoagulation and chemical precipitation pretreatment step, asignificantly higher percentage of the lithium using this simplepublished removal step.

The lithium can be precipitated or removed as a lithium bicarbonateLi2CO3, which is the preferred lithium compound for batteries, throughchemical precipitation of soda ash NaCO3 or ammonium carbonate (NH4)2CO3or through circulation or bubbling of CO2 such as, CO2 gas flocculation.The lithium carbonate can then be removed through filtration. Mostbattery manufactories prefer the lithium carbonate to be at least 95percent pure which will be a key metric in the proof of concept. Thelithium bicarbonate price is over $10,000 per metric ton and is expectedto stay over $10,000 per metric ton. The need to find new sources oflithium will be essential in increasing the number of electric vehicles.

known metal separation technologies can be modified to be performed atthe wellsite to provide a circular economy at the wellsite and reducethe transportation costs versus competitors that are proposing buildingexpensive regional mineral extraction facilities. The remaining purebrine can then be reused onsite or sold as a drilling fluid. Inaddition, the Ca, Mg and Br removed can be also reused or sold asdrilling fluid additives. If required, the KCl can be separated from theNaCl through fractional crystallization which be tested using the X-VAPsystem in the proof of concept. The KCl can be removed selectively bycreating a series of thermal distillation followed by cooling steps orheat exchangers that can be concurrently used to pre-warm the feedwastewater.

While the systems being proposed can purify frack-water flowback water,this technology is targeting production well sites after the fracking.Flowback or recovered frack-water can be filtered, applied biocide andreused for frack-jobs since the water trucks are there to remove theflow back water after the fracking and fracking can be done withrecycled heavily contaminated water. This option is rarely available forproduction sites and thus, the produced water typically must be purifiedto a high level to reuse it for most industrial and agricultural uses.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A produced water purification apparatuscomprising: a. a device for flowing produced water wellbore from awellbore to the produced water purification apparatus; b. at least onefiltering device on the produced water purification apparatus to removesolid particulates from the produced water; c. at least one device toremove heavy metals from the produced water; d. at least one brineremoval device to remove brine from the produced water, wherein thebrine removal device comprises at least one sensor for determining thebrine concentration and at least one device to selectively remove brineat a preset concentration; e. at least one device for extracting metalsand minerals; and f. at least one removable distillation column.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one heat exchangerconnected to the water purification apparatus, wherein the heatexchanger comprises an inlet wherein contaminated fluid flows in theapparatus through the inlet; at least two outlets wherein a first outletexits purified vapor and a second outlet wherein contaminated fluid witha portion removed as purified vapor exits the apparatus; an energysource that heats the contaminated fluid to a temperature wherein aportion of the contaminated fluid is converted to purified vapor; and atleast two different flow paths, a first flow path connecting at leastone inlet to the first outlet and a second flow path connecting theinlet to the second outlet, the first flow path and the second flow pathflow through at least a portion of the apparatus wherein gravitydifferences separates the lighter purified vapor and the lighterpurified vapor takes a different path than the heavier contaminatedfluid with the purified vapor exiting the first outlet and thecontaminated fluid exiting the second outlet.
 3. A method to purifyproduced water comprising; a. flowing produced water into at least onewater purification device, wherein the at least one water purificationdevice comprises at least one removeable distillation column; b.removing solid particulates with at least one water purification device;c. removing heavy metals with at least one water purification device d.separating a brine component from the water with at least one waterpurification device; e. removing the brine component from the at leastone water purification device when the brine component reaches apredetermined favorable concentration level; and f. extracting metalsand minerals from the produced water.
 4. The method of claim 3 furthercomprising the steps of: a. connecting an apparatus to the wellhead, theapparatus comprising: at least one inlet and at least two outletsconnected to an energy source that can concentrate energy on acontaminated fluid; flowing the contaminated fluid through the inletinto the apparatus to transfer heat to the apparatus; b. heating thecontaminated fluid with the energy source inside the apparatus to causeat least a portion of the contaminated fluid to change into a purifiedvapor state inside the apparatus; c. separating with gravity at least aportion of the heavier contaminated fluid from the lighter purifiedvapor state with at least two flow paths inside the apparatus; and d.flowing the purified vapor state through the first outlet and flowingthe contaminated fluid through the second outlet to the reverse osmosismembrane.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the apparatus is a heatexchanger and the at least one removable distillation column inside theheat exchanger selectively removes contaminated fluids based on densitydifferences.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the additionalstep of capturing the heat energy of the produced water by running theproduced water through a pre-warmer connected to the apparatus andwherein the produced water is filtered before the water enters theapparatus.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the produced water flows inan energy recapture device, passes from the energy recapture device to afiltering device and through a reverse osmosis device.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising treating the water purified by the reverseosmosis device with post treatment additives.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the energy source is selected from the group consisting of heatgasses, heated liquids, radiation energy, directed energy, solar energyand combination thereof.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the purifiedvapor outlet is connected to a second device outside the at least onewater purification device and further comprising powering the seconddevice with energy from the vapor.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinthe energy recapture device is a pressure recapture device and furthercomprising providing energy to both the reverse osmosis membranes andthe apparatus from the pressure recapture device.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the energy source for the heat exchanger is flare gasand further comprising using the brine component as a drilling fluid.13. The method of claim 12, wherein the apparatus is a heat exchangerand further comprising using flare gas for at least a portion of theenergy of the heat exchanger.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the atleast one water purification device comprises a control panel andfurther comprising controlling the at least one energy recapture deviceand the at least one reverse osmosis membrane with the control panel.15. A system comprising: a. device for flowing produced water wellborefrom a wellbore to the produced water purification apparatus; b. atleast one filtering device on the produced water purification apparatusto remove solid particulates from the produced water; c. at least onedevice to remove heavy metals from the produced water; d. at least onebrine removal device to remove brine from the produced water, whereinthe brine removal device comprises at least one concentration sensor tomeasure concentration of the brine, the at least one concentrationsensor is connected to a controller, wherein the controller is inoperative connection to the at least one concentration senor and the atleast one brine removal device to remove the brine at predeterminedconcentrations; e. at least one control panel that operates the devicefor flowing produced water, the at least one brine removal device andthe at least one sensor in a coordinated manner; and f. at least oneremoveable distillation column.
 16. The system of claim 15, furthercomprising: at least one heat exchanger connected to the apparatus,wherein the heat exchanger comprises an inlet wherein contaminated fluidflows in the apparatus through the inlet; at least two outlets wherein afirst outlet exits purified vapor and a second outlet whereincontaminated fluid with a portion removed as purified vapor exits theapparatus; an energy source that heats the contaminated fluid to atemperature wherein a portion of the contaminated fluid is converted topurified vapor; and at least two different flow paths, a first flow pathconnecting at least one inlet to the first outlet and a second flow pathconnecting the inlet to the second outlet, the first flow path and thesecond flow path flow through at least a portion of the apparatuswherein gravity differences separates the lighter purified vapor and thelighter purified vapor takes a different path than the heaviercontaminated fluid with the purified vapor exiting the first outlet andthe contaminated fluid exiting the second outlet.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, further comprising: a. pumps attached to the first and secondoutlets of the heat exchanger to control flow through the heatexchanger; b. coatings inside the apparatus that are resistant toscaling; c. multiple flow paths for the contaminated fluid; and d. atleast one additional opening on the contaminated fluid path suitable toremove heavier contaminated fluid before the contaminated fluid outlet.18. The system of claim 17, wherein the control panel operates the pumpsattached to the first and second outlets to achieve predetermined flowrates.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the heat exchanger has avertical section with multiple openings to remove the contaminated waterfrom the lighter purified water.